Tamers Requiem, Book 5: Return of Shadows
by Crazyeight
Summary: The waters of the Dark Ocean stretch in all directions, connecting all the worlds together. In it, there are no endings, and death only becomes a beginning. As the Dark Ocean reaches out to claim the worlds, Takato must face it...and himself.
1. Return of Shadows

A/N: Stop! Before you go any further, it is imperative that you read all of the preceding books in this series in order to know what's going on. For all those who are returning, hello again. I welcome you to the latest installment in the Tamer's Requiem series. As always. Read. Review. And most importantly, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.**

**Tamer's Requiem, Book Five: Return of Shadows**

**A Digimon Tamers story by: Crazyeight**

**Chapter: 1**

Light shone down on the forest and the sound of birds chirping filled the air. High above in the sky, a blue sphere with antennae-like disks attached to its surface sent beams of pink energy sweeping across the landscape. Yet despite this oddity, there was no sense of urgency in the sounds of the birds, and in the forest below, not a single animal was left disturbed.

For the digital world, peace of any kind was a rarity. Of late, it had become an increasingly prized luxury that few could hope to afford.

_Boring…_

Nine golden tails whipped irritably through the air as the Kyubimon, sitting on a cliff overlooking the landscape, turned her head up towards the digital sun. She glared at it for a moment and turned her gaze away. Nothing but an endless stretch of trees barely hidden by a gray mist greeted her. The kitsune digimon closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"So bored," she murmured under her breath. "Nothing but chores to do and gray mist to look at every day. Day in, day out. Same old routine."

A silver-furred face came to the vulpine's mind and the corners of her mouth dipped a little bit as a feeling of melancholy settled over her mind.

_Things used to be so much more interesting when Urocyomon was here. Every day, watching him being made to clean the baths and teasing him about it… _Kyubimon repressed a smile as she remembered the way the silver-furred fox would get upset. Soon enough however, her melancholy returned in full force. _How long has it been now since he and Kuzuhamon left? Silver never bothered to order a search for either of them…_

The Kyubimon's tails swished again in an agitated manner. She was not to question the decisions of the Seer Council, least of all Silver, the acting leader ever since their 'Mother' had been deleted in battle with the Royal Knights. To do so was…unseemly. They saw further and more than any of the lower-level digimon that were in training.

"I need to do something," she mused aloud, getting to her feet.

"In that case," chuckled a sinister, feminine voice in front of her, "you can take a problem off my hands."

Kyubimon's eyes flew open and instinctively the tips of her tails flared to life as she caught sight of the red-haired LadyDevimon standing before her. Smirking, the viral Ultimate merely extended one arm and trapped the kitsune's neck between her long, razor-sharp nails.

"Don't move," LadyDevimon smirked. "That is, unless you want to go around looking as though you had the worst case of mange ever. I could care less. In fact, I think I would enjoy seeing it from your kind."

Kyubimon narrowed her eyes and swallowed noticeably. She resisted the urge to look at the Ultimate's hair. It was an unnerving shade of red—quite the departure from the usual color that the LadyDevimon species had.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, steadying herself.

"Like I said. I have something that you can take off my hands."

Kyubimon furrowed her brow and glanced off to LadyDevimon's free arm. Only 'free' wasn't quite the right word for it. Tucked within its crook was a large orange-colored dinosaur with red training bracers while her claws held what was decidedly a human wearing a tattered, red jacket.

"I'm…afraid I don't understand," began Kyubimon, feeling somewhat confused.

"Don't worry," sneered LadyDevimon. "You don't have to know anything, mutt. Just take care of this human and…" LadyDevimon made a disgusted expression. "…_heal _them. That is all you need to do."

LadyDevimon opened her claws and parted her arm, unceremoniously dropping her two charges to the ground. Quickly retracting her claws, she turned around and leapt into the air, spreading her wings. Within seconds, she was far away, disappearing into the mists, leaving one extremely confused Kyubimon to gape at her retreating form.

"What…just happened?" asked Kyubimon, confused. _Did that Virus just…spare me?_

Something about that did not seem right, and yet here she was, alive and well.

She glanced down at the unconscious human and digimon. They both looked the worse for wear—almost as though they had been through a hellish experience if the soot covering their bodies was any indication.

_Should I bring them back to the temple?_ she wondered, feeling a spark of fear go through her. After a moment of deliberation, she walked over to the human and lifted him up by the jacket with her jaws.

**…**

LadyDevimon glared at the horizon as it sped past her, disgust and loathing filling her black heart and lashing at her like a whip. She wanted to rage and destroy at the landscape around her, but she knew that she mustn't, as such activity would only draw the attention of the Seer Council, and she wanted to be as far away from her as quickly as possible so that she could rejoin Takato.

_Takato…_

The image of the brown-haired boy filled her mind, and she gritted her fangs together. The urge to destroy increased in intensity, and just as before she fiercely repressed it.

_Something is wrong with me,_ she thought to herself. _There was once a time where I would have simply slaughtered the digimon and taken the human as a pet for however long he amused me. Instead, I simply dumped them both at the doorstep of the Seer Council—the _Seer Council _of all places!_

A memory of the boy's own crimson eyes—somehow fiercer than and more violent than her own—came to mind and she clenched her claws together tightly.

_"You promised…"_ came the words from the boy. They set made digital blood boil.

_That human…drives me insane sometimes._ Narrowing her blood-red eyes, she urged more speed out of her wings. She had to leave this level of the digital world as soon as possible.

**…**

_A cry was loosed from Gallantmon's lips as his burning form impacted with the ground with devestating force. In spite of the pain, the Royal Knight's mind remained firmly in control of his actions and wasting no time he rolled to the side, throwing off his cape as the fire of the dragon's Megiddo Flame consumed it utterly. Getting back to his feet, Gallantmon had barely enough time to register the dragon's charge before leaping backwards, narrowly avoiding getting crushed by the behemoth. The maneuver was not without its cost however. In spite of the Knight's speed, the dragon proved to be faster still, and with a quick twist of its body, the Megidramon tail portion swept outwards and crashed brutally into him, sending him rocketing away like a comet. This time there was no rolling with the blow when he crashed back to the earth. Pain exploded through every part of his body as armor was bent inwards, and Gallantmon felt something warm and wet burst forth from his mouth._

_"Takato!" Guilmon exclaimed, feeling the pain in his partner's body._

_"G-Guil—!"_

_A shadow fell over the battered knight, and a second later, all words and sight were cut off for the both of them._

_Pain erupted in every fiber of their being as metal plates bent inwards and digital bones snapped and broke under the intense weight that bore down upon them. Gallantmon opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. No air was left to help him._

_ All at once, the light began to fade from his vision, and a strange, frightening feeling of weightlessness fell over him. Panicking, Takato tried to force himself to move, but his body refused to respond. Instead the feeling of weightlessness increased, and with it, the sense of pain that surged through his body began to disappear. _

_ "No…" he found himself whispering, continuing to struggle. "I…can't…can't lose here. I've got to…get back…to… the…others…" Takato gritted his teeth together, making one final push against the darkness that continued to drown the light around him. It was, unfortunately useless. He could no longer feel the presence of his own partner. Were they separated? What happened? What was going on? _

_ The questions went around and around, endlessly chasing themselves as he fought to get the light back._

_ "Guilmon… Rika…Henry… I can't…let…them dow…n…"_

_ In the end, the shadows took hold of him, and all of his resistance faded with the last of the light._

**…**

_ "This is a unique case…"_

_ The words only barely reached Takato's ears, and slowly, carefully he opened his eyes. A world of dark, swirling grays greeted him, and Takato resisted the urge to scratch his head in confusion. The scene before him was very different from where he had been just scant seconds ago._

_ "Where am I?" he asked aloud. For some reason though, the question didn't seem very important. He himself felt as though he were detached from his body. A sense of exhaustion pervaded every fiber of his being and, almost willingly, he basked in it. But only for a moment._

_ "Guilmon," he found his lips saying, and he craned his head around him, searching desperately for his crimson-scaled partner. No sign of him greeted his eyes, and Takato felt worry bubble up in his heart._

_ "Indeed, he is a unique case," spoke another voice from the darkness. "It is not every day that a human enters the shadow of digital death. First Kurata and now…this one."_

_ "He is a destroyer in his own right too…"_

_ "Who's there?" asked Takato, shifting in his place. He quickly found himself spinning slightly from the motion, causing him to realize that he had been floating in midair._

_ "Regardless of whether he has caused devastation or not, his heart is to be judged in accordance to the laws of this world. The scales will determine where he goes."_

_ Air warped in front of Takato, and suddenly a being—a digimon—materialized before him. It had a dog-shaped head, long-necked with black fur. Golden wings flexed from his back, running the length of his long, thickly-shaped arms. The style of his dress made Takato think of ancient Egypt and instantly a memory came to mind._

_ I've seen him somewhere before…_ _he mused, frowning slightly._ _On a card I think. Anubismon?_

_ The digimon raised one hand, revealing a bronze item. It had a thin handle that rose out of the digimon's hand, and a beam sat just shy of its tip. Two bronze, dish-like items descended from the beam, attached by thin chains._

A scale?_ wondered Takato curiously. "Um…" Takato looked away from the object and up at the digimon. "Hey, can you help me? My friends are in trouble and I really have to help them."_

_ The digimon raised its free hand. A bright, blue light briefly flared in its palm before dying down, revealing a feather. The digimon placed the feather on the scale and then turned its gaze up towards Takato expectantly. The boy furrowed his brow worriedly. _

_ "Um… Wha…what do you want?" The question slipped out of his mouth and he immediately wanted to slap himself for a dope. How could he know that the digimon wanted anything from him? For all he knew it probably wanted to look at him or something._

Not that I'm really much to look at,_ Takato thought. _Well, except maybe to laugh at… What am I talking about? I've got to get out of here and help the others! They need m—!

_Takato doubled over suddenly as pain racked his body. His form blurred, causing the digimon to tilt his head to one side out of curiosity. After several seconds, Takato's body stabilized, leaving him breathing heavily._

Wha…what was that? _he wondered, trying to catch his breath._

_"Fascinating," spoke a new voice, female this time. "An incomplete record?"_

_ "Resurrection," pronounced the digimon before Takato. "But the scales must still be balanced."_

_ Raising his free hand, the digimon reached out and touched Takato's chest. At once, a ball of light materialized in his palm. The voice from the shadow giggled._

_ "So small. Perhaps it will weigh less than the feather this time around, Anubismon."_

_ Anubismon did not say anything, instead bringing the small sphere of light to the scale sitting across from the feather. Takato watched it, clutching at his chest. He felt so…tired. He could no longer say anything—nor do anything save for watching the act and see how it played out._

_ The ball of blue light settled on the scale, and it tipped ever so slightly, swinging up and then down, the feather on its opposite mate doing likewise. The ball flashed white several times before releasing a fragmented stream of light into the scale. The dish tipped below the feather and then stayed there._

_ "It has been decided," pronounced Anubismon, and he stepped back. "You may have him, Ammimon."_

_ "Yesss…"_

_ A dark, massive, animal-like figure suddenly loomed from out of the darkness, and Takato jerked backwards, the instinct to flee tearing through his mind, overriding the exhaustion that he had felt earlier. It did not matter in the end, for the beast's cavernous jaws quickly overtook him and slammed shut, leaving Takato once again alone in the darkness. Gravity soon took hold of him, and he found himself plummeting downwards. _

_ "What's going on?" he shouted, but his words were lost to the searing cold winds that whipped at his body. A new light began to emerge, revealing a world of gray beneath him—and extremely far away from him._

_ Worse yet, that very same far-away ground was rapidly surging towards him._

_ Takato had only a few, brief seconds to think of his friends before he struck the ground with a bone-sickening crunch, and then, once more, darkness overwhelmed his senses._

**…**

"Guh!"

Takato was jolted roughly awake as he was jerked around. He didn't have time to take a look around him, as within short order the golden, desert ground that he dangled above quickly rushed away, causing Takato's heart to nearly leap out of his chest.

There followed a low, guttural chortle from above him, and Takato suddenly became aware that he was being carried by something. He shifted his head and looked up at a face that he thought he would never see again, and his eyes widened in complete and utter shock.

A golden mane flowed out from a solid, bronze-furred face, and crystal-clear blue eyes stared out at him with what looked to be amusement. Great muscular arms shifted against a powerfully built chest and a smile drew across the Champion level digimon's face.

"What's the matter, kid?" asked the Leomon. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Takato moved his mouth to speak, only for his words to get lost as they came to a hard landing. Gasping, Takato looked around him, finding more and more of the lion digimon coming to a landing around them.

And chief among them, the powerful, kingly form of the bestial, gold and red-furred SaberLeomon, as he too landed. In his jaws hung the limp form of Akihiro Kurata, helpless.

"Wha…what's going on?" asked Takato, suddenly finding it hard to think.

The Leomon that held Takato tightened his grip around him.

"Your judgment," he replied.

**...**

A/N: It took me a while to get back to this. Life decided to throw a number of curveballs my way. Some involving school, and some involving life of a personal nature. Also, I had to go back and reread various bits and pieces of the fic to remember all the major important plot points (and some of the non-major ones as well). This fic will work to look at Marcus and the 'Other/Dead/Not Takato's' (to borrow some of his present identities via readers) perspectives while continuing to develop the plot from Revival. This chapter especially looked at what happened to Takato following his 'death' in 'Less than Human' and how he got to be where we found him in 'Revival'. We'll be looking into what he's been doing in the Dark Ocean since then as well.

Concerning Anubismon and Ammimon, I based what happened off of what I read concerning what happened to a person after dying. According to Egyptian mythology, a dead person's soul would be weighed against a feather, and if it was found to be heavier, than he/she would be eaten by a monster, Ammit, and become a 'restless spirit forever'.

For the time being, sadly, chapters will be relatively short compared to my previous work in the Tamer's Requiem series, and updates will be slow, due to final exams and projects for school. Nevertheless, I will try to update when I can and as soon as I can.

Until next chapter. :P

-Crazyeight

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5


	2. Rescue

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 2/ Rescue

She stood in the center of the court yard, her pale face, covered by a silver fox-shaped mask, bowed in meditation. In one hand, she held a silver, vajra staff. Several moments of silence went by, until finally, a soft glow surrounded her body. Mouthing an incantation under her breath, she spun suddenly, unleashing a stream of shining white light, as fluid as a river, sparkling in the air where it swiftly dissipated into nothing. She repeated the motion, and more light swiftly appeared, only to again disappear. Moments turned into minutes, until finally she brought her staff down with a loud click of its bottom spike onto the ground.

Breathing a heavy sigh, the Sakuyamon, better known as simply 'Silver' to her companions of the Seer Council, shook her head and relaxed her guard.

"Still not enough," she muttered to herself.

"Problems?"

Looking to the side, Silver found another Sakuyamon, this one of the normal, bronze armor and mask variety, standing off to the side, a small smirk on her face. Silver nodded in greeting to her.

"No more than what normally comes with the weather," she replied. The Sakuyamon's smirk became almost sneering in its appearance.

"Don't try to sound like Mother. It does not suit you, and you do not have her wisdom."

"It is not my intention to try," said Silver, striding over to her. "No one among us can replace the Mother. Now, is there something you wish to tell me?"

"Only that one of our Kyubimon has discovered something of interest that all members of the Seer Council should see."

"Very well then," nodded Silver. "Lead the way."

Still smirking, the Sakuyamon turned and began walking. Silver found herself frowning beneath her face mask at the choice of transportation.

_I suppose that whatever was discovered must not be that important,_ she thought to herself as they strode across the courtyard and towards the main temple grounds. She took a moment to survey the area, smiling softly to herself as she saw the multitude of Renamon and Kyubimon busying themselves with their chores and training while, here and there, a Taomon or Doumon directed them. The temple grounds had improved much in the past three years since the destruction that the Royal Knights had wrought upon it, and had even expanded somewhat. More buildings to house the most recent litters of Reremon and Viximon, and a new library for study as well.

_One would have thought that, after the battle with the Royal Knights and subsequent invasion by the DexDoruGreymon, we would have become far more guarded when it came to dealings with outsiders,_ she observed. In a way though, she was glad that they hadn't concentrated their resources on increasing their isolation and fortifications. As things stood, the Seer Council backed by the Taomon and Doumon were enough to thwart almost any invasion, just as they had with the DexDoruGreymon. Building fortifications, as far as the digital world was concerned, didn't amount to much without extreme knowledge of how to manipulate information. However, such skill was exceedingly difficult to come by, and only a few digimon of even the Mega level could hope to master any of the high-level programming languages.

_Although, here and there, some digimon of even lower level are capable of the feat. Wizardmon and Witchmon for example… and the former ruler of the distant Myotis castle as well._

Silver unconsciously shuddered at the thought of the black fortress, and swiftly dismissed it from her mind. She had other things to focus on.

_Oh Mother,_ she thought as they approached a building that had been made for housing guests. _Would that you were still here to guide us…_

The two shaman vixen entered the building, and Silver was quickly shown to a nearby room. Opening the door, her Sakuyamon companion stepped aside and ushered her inside. Silver raised an eyebrow at what she saw.

A Kyubimon sat at attention in the room, and upon seeing the two Megas, she immediately bowed her head and a tail gestured to the side. Lying on a futon with a blanket covering him, was a tall human with rich, reddish-brown hair and a red jacket. Next to him was a digimon of a variety that she immediately thought of as an Agumon.

_It is larger though,_ she thought. _And with Training braces? Could it be a subspecies? Or something else all together?_

Despite the question, her immediate concern turned back towards the human and she walked over to him. Getting down on her knees, she raised one hand and placed it on the human's forehead.

"We don't get many human visitors," she noted.

"Indeed," replied the Sakuyamon, entering the room. "The most recent one was within a year I believe. And there were the Tamers hailing from Azulongmon's world three years ago. The one with the _Princess_ and her two knights that were being guided by Urocyomon and our _Little Sister _Kuzuhamon…"

Silver nodded her head in acknowledgment, recognizing the tone in the Sakuyamon's voice. The disappearance of the Rookie and his charge was something that had not gone over well with the Seer Council.

"I take it you were the one who brought them in?" Silver asked, turning to the Kyubimon. The Champion nodded.

"Yes. The circumstances surrounding my…_discovery_ are a bit…unusual to say the least. In fact, it was a LadyDevimon who handed them to me, asking me to take care of them."

"A LadyDevimon?" hissed the Sakuyamon sharply as she drew in a breath. "What was a Virus doing inside of our borders?"

Silver noted that this was news to her companion, and filed it away for future reference.

"It doesn't matter," said Silver, removing her hand from the human's forehead. "All that matters is that we have two individuals who are in need of care. We shall do so."

"We shall?" asked the Sakuyamon, sounding a bit surprised from the decision. "If this human has had dealings with the creatures of the Dark Area, then we should have nothing to do with them. They are a danger to us as long as they exist here."

"That is not your decision to make, young one," spoke Silver gently, rising to her feet. "Our first tenant is to bring a place of peace and succor to all who come within our walls, seeking aid, no matter who they may be. The Mother, when she was alive, has done so before. In that spirit, we continue to do so."

The Sakuyamon pursed her lips together, clearly not happy with Silver's statement. Gripping her staff tightly, she turned and headed for the exit.

"I have to report this development to the council." She paused to look at the Kyubimon, who flinched under the Mega's gaze. A second later, the Sakuyamon left, leaving Silver and the Champion alone in the room.

"Why didn't you initially report that these two were given aid by a Dark One when you arrived?"

_"She_ was standing guard at the gate," Kyubimon said, shuddering slightly. "She almost didn't let me inside. You know she hasn't been the same since the Mother died."

Silver nodded grimly, but chose not to comment. The topic of the Sakuyamon who had just left was not one that many chose to comment on, and when they did, it was best closed quickly.

Kyubimon scowled at the door. "How did she get to evolve so early?" she mused out loud.

"Never mind her for now. Tell me more about how the LadyDevimon that delivered these two to you."

"She was…a bit different," replied the Kyubimon. "She had red hair. I believe she may have been a subspecies."

"You don't see many that have a different hair color," mused Silver. _If only I had access to the Light that the Mother did. I would have been able to discern something about this LadyDevimon._ "Did she exhibit any other traits?"

"I'm still here," pointed out Kyubimon. "I think that's proof enough."

"Hmmm…perhaps. But not all Viruses will destroy what's in front of them simply because they can. While it is true that a Viral form resulting from a dark evolution will be inherently wild and dangerous, Viruses can also appear as they do simply because of their mindset or personality. It is not unheard of for there to be a Demidevimon—or even a BlackWarGreymon—to fight on the side of light, or to live a life free of violence."

Kyubimon became silent at that, and Silver turned her full focus on the human and Rookie digimon before her. She frowned beneath her mask as she looked them over.

_I can't quite put my finger on it, but I could have sworn that I heard something recently about a human and a digimon—an Agumon— traveling the digital world, stirring up trouble. Could these be them?_

As she watched, the human groaned and shifted beneath his blankets. A dark aura, thin and barely visible, flared around his body. Silver's eyes widened in surprise, causing her back to go rigid.

"That…was interesting."

"Was that a…" began Kyubimon, only for Silver to finish for her.

"…Touch of darkness." Silver narrowed her eyes, and after a moment, a small smile graced her face.

_"Very_ interesting," she chuckled softly. "This appears to be what the LadyDevimon wants us to heal. A very different LadyDevimon indeed."

Getting to her feet, Silver looked over at the Kyubimon.

"Continue watching them for me. I need to gather some ingredients for our 'guests'."

**…**

The searing desert heat greeted LadyDevimon as she ascended a set of stairs leading out of the ground. She smirked triumphantly to herself at having found the passageway between two levels of the digital world.

_It certainly made getting to those blasted kitsune's temple that much easier,_ she thought to herself. _Now that I have that little 'chore' out of the way, I can focus on getting back to Takato and Kurata. _

The crimson-haired Virus's eyes narrowed dangerously and she checked her bearing to reorient herself before spreading her tattered black wings. Assisted by rising heat, she took to the air, where she used her eyesight to scan her surroundings, trying to spot her 'partner' and their charge.

_I thought they were closer than this,_ she thought after several minutes of flight, during which she found no sign of her companions. Scowling, she continued onwards for a bit before circling about. _I could have sworn…_

LadyDevimon growled under her breath in frustration.

_Did that cotton head of a Tamer decide to move on his own?_ she wondered. A flash of anger stormed through her digital heart, and for an instant, she believed it._ Humans… It would be just like them to up and leave at a moment's notice—especially considering how _stubborn_ Takato is! He probably felt that because I wasn't living up to our 'promise' that I was no longer worth sticking around for._

LadyDevimon drew her claws into a tight fist, and the fire in her heart all but blazed forward with greater strength. However, no sooner did the fire begin, did a voice, calm, logical, and stilling, made itself heard in the dark corners of her mind.

_"It is sometimes best to err on the side of caution, my dear. You can be __too__ passionate at times. That is why you fell, is it not?"_

LadyDevimon's free hand went to her head while her claws were forced to open themselves from their fist.

_GranDracmon…_ she thought, swallowing audibly. A trickle of sweat crawled down her face, and she flew down towards the ground. Upon landing, she fell forward, panting heavily.

_Even after he promised me that he loosened my leash, his voice _still_ carries too much strength for me to fight…_

LadyDevimon shaded her eyes with her claws as she bit the inside of her mouth, causing her digital blood to spill forth. She suckled on her wounds, shuddering slightly at the bitter, oily taste that her blood had—a stark contrast to the sweet-by-comparison coppery taste that Takato had—but the pain and the taste distracted her, allowing her a moment to collect herself. Getting to her feet, she glared at the horizon.

_No…_ she thought finally, again clenching her hands into fists. _Takato wouldn't abandon me. He's too soft and 'good-hearted' for that, no matter how angry he becomes with one such as me. It is why GranDracmon never bothered to leash him with his voice like he did with me. He stays because he has a dept to repay to him for saving him. He won't break who he is…_ The crimson light in LadyDevimon's eyes burned brightly for a moment and she smirked. _…even if it kills him._

Allowing that thought to calm her, LadyDevimon spread her wings once more. She was just about to take flight once more when something glinting in the sand caught her attention. Frowning, she retracted her wings and sauntered over to where she saw the glint, berating herself for even being distracted by such a thing.

_It's probably nothing more than sand or glass that was fused by a fire-type digimon,_ she thought to herself. At the same time though, she knew she was wrong. Her eyesight was superb, even amongst her species. What she saw was anything but sparkling sand or even fire-fused glass. No. This was something else all together.

Bending down, she picked up what appeared to be a thin, metallic-like needle. LadyDevimon brought it close to her face and peered at it carefully.

_This looks like something a SaberLeomon fires,_ she thought.

Something clicked in her mind. Casting her eyes about, she quickly found several more such needles imbedded in the sand. A sneaking suspicion began to form in her mind. She looked ahead and again spread her wings.

_This is probably just some regular scuffle between savage digimon,_ she thought. A grin drew across her face._ But one way or another, I could use a little misplaced aggression and a good show. Not to mention a little data…_

**…**

A howl of rage tore across the desert wind, all but sheering the air and causing the sand to tremble slightly.

The remains of the cactus—the cactus that she had cut for Takato—lay on the ground. Needles, more than its fair share and generally not the kind that grew on the plant, skewered it in a half-hazard manner. As a matter of fact, there were far more needles lying in all directions, but they all lay in a uniform manner.

LadyDevimon seethed as she strode amidst the painfully obvious battlefield, looking for some sign of direction as to where Takato had gone. Kurata she could care less about, but Takato on the other hand…

Dark blood sizzled to the ground from where her claws bit into her hand.

_A SaberLeomon was here,_ she thought. _The needle length is about right. Same for sharpness. No Togemon has that kind of point to its needles._

She glanced around. The sand was disrupted in all directions. Unlike most areas in the desert plain, this part was less dune-like in appearance and she could conduct some measure of forensic study to determine what had happened. However, the wind had already done a good job of distorting much of the sand, complicating her task. All she could tell for certain was that there had been a large group of decently sized digimon—Champions most likely judging from the impressions in the sand—and at least one of them had to have been a SaberLeomon. Beyond that, she could get no numbers or identify what species they were.

However, she did see what appeared to be a trail.

Anger rose and fell within her bosom, but this time it was of a cold kind. The absence of Takato did not bode well in her mind, especially taking into account the numerous needles that dotted the landscape and the fact that there was more than one attacker.

_Takato was in no shape to fight if he had been attacked. And Kurata isn't much of a fighter himself even with the power of Belphemon inside of him._

LadyDevimon spread her wings and took to the air, her eyes blazing a fearsome crimson.

_I don't care if Goddramon has mercy on them or not, because I won't. Whoever they are…if they deleted or harmed that idiot Tamer of mine in any way, I will take great pleasure in ripping their cores from their bodies.

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A/N: We have a return of the Seer Council and Silver, both of whom we haven't seen or heard from in some time, and we have LadyDevimon finding that something bad has happened to Takato. Worst of all, she's not happy and fully intends to cause some mayhem. Not a fun combination for anyone on the receiving end. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and have a happy thanksgiving. :P

-Crazyeight

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5


	3. Roar

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 3/ Roar

_The sound of waves reached his ears as he slowly woke up. Groggily, Takato sat up and took a look around him. Gray mists rising from an equally gray ocean sitting to his right greeted his vision. A memory tickled his mind, but for the strangest reason he could not quite focus on it. It danced away from his grasp, almost teasingly. Shaking his head, Takato got to his feet and dusted his off his pants. Dust-colored sand fell to the beach, causing him to again pause. He frowned. That feeling of memory returned, even more strongly, but as before, he had nothing more than blankness to greet his queries._

_ "That's really weird," he mused aloud. "Hey, Guilmon. Do you recognize this pla—?"_

_ Takato stopped and frowned. _Who am I talking to?_ Looking around, he saw nothing more than the endless expanse of beach and a far off tree line. The trees looked dark and uninviting, causing shivers to crawl down his spine._

I think I'll stay out of there for now,_ he thought. _But…where do I go? I need to figure out where I am.

_ A loud growl broke across the quiet of the beach, audible above the sound of waves that continued to crash against the shore. Takato looked down at his stomach with an embarrassed expression on his face._

_ "But first I should find something to eat," muttered Takato with a nervous laugh. He glanced at the forest and then back at the beach. After a moment of deliberation, he struck out towards the forest._

**...**

Takato grunted as he was tossed on the cave's hard ground, Kurata following quickly behind. Quickly surging to his feet, Takato took in the Leomon that surrounded them, his mind quickly calculating their odds of survival if they were to make a break for it.

It did not look promising.

Takato heard a groan behind him and upon turning he saw Kurata starting to recover.

"Easy there," said the Tamer, placing a hand on his back. "You were out for a while. Don't push yourself."

A shadow fell over the duo, and Takato tensed up as a wave of warm breath flowed over his body. He didn't even have to look to see SaberLeomon towering over them.

"Look at this," growled the massive lion digimon, anger flaring in his eyes. "The human lends his aid to the murderer."

Waving Takato off, Kurata got to his feet and his hands rose to push a pair of glasses that were no longer on his face. Frowning, he folded his arms over his chest and glared at their captors.

"What is going on? I demand to know where we are."

SaberLeomon let out a dark chuckle. "Demand, do you? You are hardly in a position to 'demand' anything, human. Especially one in your position." The great lion backed off and turned to the two closest Leomon. "See to it that they don't go anywhere. The rest of you come with me. We have to prepare a fitting execution ground."

"Execution ground?" Kurata's mouth fell open in anger and he began to charge towards the Mega. "Explain yo—!"

Kurata was cut off as a powerful blast of energy shaped like a lion's face struck him full in the face, knocking him backwards. Getting to his feet, Takato prepared to aid him, only to be stopped as a large sword blade rose to block his path. Looking up, he saw its owner, a Leomon, towering over him with a warning look on his face. Takato's eyes flicked over to Kurata, but the man was already getting to his feet. No further attacks were being made against him. Raising his hands, Takato backed away a foot. The Leomon did not lower his blade, but made no move to advance on him either.

_Okay… It doesn't look like they'll attack me unless I provoke them. I guess that's a good sign._

SaberLeomon eyed the proceedings for a moment before snorting and then turned and exited the cave, taking a number of Leomon along with him while leaving only two behind. Now the Leomon sheathed its sword, allowing Takato a free path to check on his companion. The Tamer nodded to the Champion and moved towards Kurata.

"Hey," said Takato, getting down to one knee. "You okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" asked Kurata sardonically. A moment later his face distorted and he let out a powerful sneeze. "Filthy beasts… They've stirred up my allergies now."

_I'm sure they're happy to see you too,_ thought Takato with a frown, but he kept it to himself. "Do you mind telling me what's going on? Why do these digimon want to kill you?"

"Kill me?" asked Kurata. "Is that what they said?"

"That SaberLeomon said he was going to prepare an 'execution ground!" Takato exclaimed, bristling. He took a deep breath to cool his temper before continuing. "Back in the Da—I mean, back in the castle." Takato caught himself before the words 'Dark Area' could leave his mouth. It was not a name one spoke lightly. "Back in the castle, I was told that you had every reason to be imprisoned, but no one said _why._ What did you do that made you enemies like this? How do they even _know_ you?"

Kurata shifted into a sitting position and once again, his hand went to his face to push up a pair of glasses that weren't there. His expression was one of supreme contempt and smugness.

"Let's just say that the worlds you and I come from are as different as they are the same. In the end, all ruled by fools who believe that these…_things," _Kurata indicated the Leomon with a disgusted nod of his head, "are at all alive and deserve protecting, even when the human race is endangered by their very existence."

Takato glared at Kurata, and his shirt quivered slightly, the entity that made it up sensing the teen's anger. With an effort, Takato pushed down his anger.

"No. I need answers. More definite ones than that!"

"I don't think that's our immediate concern, boy," Kurata replied, glowering.

"But…if we can just talk to them…"

Takato's words were cut off by Kurata's laughter.

"You really are naïve, aren't you? Do you really think those digimon are going to listen to us? I think we're better off just cutting our way out. Besides," Kurata pointed a finger at himself, "considering what I have inside of me, I don't think it will matter if I their zookeeper."

"What do you…?" began Takato, only to stop himself as he remembered. Kurata nodded.

"That's right. Belphemon. These Leomon locked him away. I don't think they'll be willing to let him roam free."

Takato frowned. "Wait. How do you know they imprisoned Belphemon?"

Kurata paused, looked confused for a moment, and then shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter."

Takato sighed and turned to look at the two Leomon. One was standing diligently with his arms folded over his massive chest. The other one was sitting, sharpening his sword against a rock. After a moment, it paused in its activity and turned its blue eyes towards him, baring a fang. Takato looked away, feeling uncomfortable.

_Definitely not like the Leomon Jeri was partnered too,_ he thought. _But there has to be some way we can reason with these guys._ He glanced at Kurata, who was sitting there, frowning at the two Champions as well. _Too bad, he's not looking to do that. Are these Leomon really that upset about what's inside of him? It doesn't seem fair. They're going to kill him just because he has a Demon Lord inside of him? That's nuts._

Takato shook his head. Life was rarely fair, as he found out the hard way. Still, he couldn't give up just yet. But what could he do, especially when these two Leomon were guarding them so closely?

Takato turned away from the Leomon and raised one arm, looking at his dark sleeve. The fabric shifted, responding to his thoughts.

_It's dark enough…_ his mind began before he firmly put that thought to a halt._ No, that probably won't work. Leomon are like cats. They can see in the dark. What else can I do though? I can't risk transforming into ChaosGallantmon again. It takes too much energy to hold, and last couple of times had been…pretty bad._

Takato rubbed his shoulder, trying to work out the cramps in his muscles as he tried to work out a way that they could escape. None seemed very feasible.

_Too weak to fight, and I'd rather not hurt anybody if I can help it._ Takato swallowed anxiously._ LadyDevimon…I wonder if she found out that we're missing. Where did she go anyway? She was so angry when she left…_

Takato threw his hands up in the air and got to his feet. There seemed to be too many things to focus on and too little room to work with. He had to try and get himself and Kurata out of here so that they could get on with their mission. Simply sitting around waiting for the 'Pride of Courage' to find the right place to execute them wasn't going to help them escape any quicker.

With that in mind, Takato strode over to the two Leomon, a focused look on his face. The Leomon saw him coming and the sound of stone on steel stopped. The brown-haired boy stopped in front of the closest lion digimon and after taking a moment to look him over, gave him a smile.

"Hey. I was wondering if you could help me with a few things. Nothing major, just…ah…maybe answer a few questions?"

The two Leomon exchanged looks. The one who had been sharpening his sword raised an eyebrow and turned towards Takato.

"Go sit down," the beast growled. With that, he returned to sharpening his sword. Takato, undaunted, looked up at the Leomon in front of him, still smiling.

"The thing is…um…I don't know if you know anything about the human world, but back there prisoners are usually…uh…read a list of charges when they're arrested…er…captured….um…imprisoned. I don't know why Kurata and I are imprisoned."

The Leomon's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You are not in the human world, young one. Go sit down."

"But…"

_"Sit,"_ intoned the Leomon, the force of a sledgehammer behind the word, "down."

"Well…it was worth a shot." Takato rubbed the back of his head, wondering why he thought getting them to talk to him would work.

_Oh yeah. That's right. Because on TV it always worked to get the guard's on your side._

Feeling a little dispirited, Takato slumped away, looking defeated. Casting a glance over his shoulder back at the Champions.

"You know…you're not like the Leomon I used to know."

The sound of stone on steel stopped again, and the Leomon sharpening his sword looked at him for a moment before returning to his task. The other one didn't so much as look in his direction.

_So much for that…_

Takato sat back down next to Kurata, a dejected look on his face.

"You used to know a Leomon?" Kurata asked.

"Yeah," Takato nodded. "He used to be a partner to a friend of mine."

"I see. And what happened to this Leomon?"

Takato cast his eyes towards the ground. "He died protecting his partner."

That effectively ended all conversation. Kurata looked over at the two Leomon with a dispassionate expression on his face.

_Hmmm…if only I wasn't feeling tired, I could access the power of Belphemon and escape from here with ease. Could the SaberLeomon's attack have contained a drug in it? It's possible. I wouldn't put anything past digimon now."_

Kurata narrowed his eyes. _I wonder how much power I can use right now. Can I at least make the transformation?_

He had only the foggiest notion of how his transformation had occurred the last time.

_When I first merged with Belphemon I had transformed myself into data and broadcast myself into the beast. I lost control temporarily, but afterwards…_ Kurata rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment._ That's odd. When I lost control, Belphemon's personality awoke, and I could continue to feel it even after I reasserted myself. Yet, I haven't sensed him so much as once since I…woke up in that castle._

_ And that's just it. I only regained consciousness recently. Surely Belphemon was in control…_

A memory played through his mind. The words that he said to Takato about the _Pride of Courage_ taking Belphemon prisoner and being responsible for placing him in the temple that he was found in so long ago… That was not something he should have known. And then there was the great gap in his memories as well to consider.

_Belphemon's still inside of me. It's not just remnants of his physical body. _He_ is still there. But for some reason he hasn't come out since I woke up. Why is that? Has he gone to sleep?_

He did not like the potential answer to that question.

_At any rate, I still need to figure out how I can tap into Belphemon's power again. I know I've accessed small bits and pieces of it—the things that I have been capable of since entering the digital world is proof enough of that. But I need more._

Closing his eyes, he thought back to when he first 'awoke'. There had been pain first, and the strangest feeling that he was struggling to escape from something pulling him downwards; suffocating him—something he associated with a near drowning experience he had had as a child.

_I must go deeper. I need to think more._

The battle against Marcus—_Marcus!—_and his friends. Kurata found himself grinding his teeth in response to the name. Oh, how he hated the son of the man whom he despised so much. Everywhere he went, the annoying gnat was getting under his feet and trying to put a halt to his plans. Even after escaping the Dark Area they somehow still found each other. It had been that hatred that caused him to come fighting tooth and nail out of the darkness that he lost himself in when Belphemon took control. He refused to be banished to some dark corner of the Demon Lord's psyche. He would destroy Marcus and everyone who dared help him! And then afterwards…the digital world.

"Uh…Kurata?" began Takato. "Why do you have a dark aura around you?"

Those words caused Kurata to snap back to attention. Unfortunately for him, it also caught the attention of the two Leomon. The one sharpening his sword was immediately on his feet while the standing one lunged forward, orange fire swirling around one pulled back fist. Takato leapt to his feet, his clothes already beginning to transform in an attempt to defend the two of them.

He was too late.

**"Fist of the Beast King!"**

The mighty Leomon unleashed a blast of energy in the shape of a lion's face. It surged forward, streaking towards Kurata and Takato. Darkness swirled around Kurata as he saw the oncoming attack. Anger flared inside of him as he watched it approach. Baring his teeth, the former scientist let loose a powerful roar, and the aura of shadow pulsed and immediately began to bubble outwards.

A massive wave of violet energy lashed outwards and swatted Leomon's attack like a fly, causing it to explode harmlessly against the cave's walls. The energy shifted, taking on a limb-like appearance as their owner got to his feet. The charging Leomon drove to a halt, one hand dropping to his sword. Kurata smirked and another arm-like limb of energy sprouted out of the field surrounding him. An eerie emerald glow began to swarm around them and he stalked towards the two lions.

"My, my," chuckled Kurata. "It appears that the hunters have become the hunted."

**…**

Crimson hair fell down LadyDevimon's back as she landed on the edge of a cliff. She surveyed the landscape around her carefully as she contemplated it. A solitary mountain sprouted from the desert like an exclamation point. A cave stood out prominently, drawing the demoness' attention. In one hand she held a set of glasses—Kurata's—that she had found while following the trail. It had been the surest sign that she was on the right path, at least in so far as Kurata was concerned and she cared little about what happened to him. However, the possibility that he was with Takato spurred her onwards.

_The trail leads to that cave,_ she thought to herself. She nibbled on her lower lip thoughtfully. She couldn't see any sign of any digimon nearby, but the scent of a pack of Leomon was strong enough that even she had no trouble following it. And one of them was definitely a SaberLeomon, no easy digimon to defeat, even though she had type advantage.

Still, she wasn't worried about defeating the Mega. It wasn't as though it had been the first time she had done so…even if the effort had nearly killed her.

_The question is not about whether or not I can defeat a SaberLeomon,_ thought LadyDevimon, her eyes focusing on the cave. _But whether or not Takato is with them._

A strange feeling ran through her chest. It felt almost alien. _Almost._

She flexed her claws, pondering it for a moment. She didn't like to entertain feelings of hope—too often had they led her to disappointment, yet this time she was tempted to give in. After all, she was so close on the trail that the possibility could very well be a reality.

She narrowed her eyes.

_Why do I hope?_ a part of her wondered, and she quickly banished it. There was no point in asking such questions. She had a job to do, and she could ill-afford to fail. Extending her tattered wings, LadyDevimon took to the air, aiming towards the cave below.

Before she even got more than ten feet, a deafening explosion burst forth from the mouth of the cave, shattering rock and sending debris flying in all directions.

**…**

Standing a fair distance away from the demonic digimon, a towering figure wearing what appeared to be a dark jacket with a black cap with red trim, its top broken by flowing white hair, stood watching the scene as it began to unfold. His arms were folded across his chest, concealing a red, scar-like X, and he chewed on the stem of a plant in contemplation. He made no move to unsheathe the curved blade strapped to his waist, nor did he move to defend the Leomon as they came under attack. Instead he watched. And waited.

**…**

Takato coughed at the cloud of dust that filled the air.

"Wha…" he choked. "What happened?"

"I'm getting out," came the elated voice of Kurata, raising his fists. He looked at them with great satisfaction. Energy continued to billow up from his fingers, building mass. Soon the cave would not be able to contain him.

_Am I transforming into Belphemon again?_ he wondered. He soon decided that the question did not matter, as long as he saved himself.

"You should be thankful," he leered, turning to Takato. "I'm saving you as well you know."

"Uh…yeah." Takato frowned and coughed again. "Thanks…I guess."

"Once again, my efforts go unappreciated. No matter." Kurata grinned and headed towards the exit, his energy field flexing around his body. Tendrils of lightning rose upon the cave's roof, and the stone groaned, protesting against the force being inflicted upon it. A pebble fell from it and bounced off Takato's head. Getting the drift, he immediately dashed after Kurata.

"Where are the Leomon?" he asked aloud, casting his eyes around him, trying to see through the darkness.

"The blast blew them outside," Kurata replied confidently. "Hopefully they'll get smart and decide to leave us alone."

Takato found himself not liking the way that sounded.

They soon exited the cave and into the light of the desert. Kurata flexed his energy limbs and with an unspoken command blew the dust away from them. He breathed deep in triumph.

"Ahhh… Fresh air…"

"How did you…?" asked Takato, looking at Kurata's energy field.

"Belphemon!" cried Kurata, triumphantly raising his arms. "Who else could it be? I've tapped into his power. It's all there…_all_ of it! I shall be _invincible_ once again!"

**"Fist of the Beast King!"**

"Oh my…"

Kurata's expression changed from triumph to disappointment as he slashed down one of his energy limbs, sending a wave of violet energy slicing through the air. It caught Leomon's oncoming attack, shattering it into many shards of data. Raising his real arm, Kurata flicked his wrist, and a green chain lashed outwards like a striking cobra, wrapping itself around the attacking Leomon. Raising him into the air, Kurata smirked at him before bringing him crashing to the ground. The lion digimon grunted from the blow, but struggled against his binds.

"Hmmph. The sand isn't really effective is it?" Kurata cast his eyes about and spotted a bolder that had fallen from the small mountain. Extending an arm, he cast a claw of energy towards the bolder and lifted it into the air. Takato's eyes widened.

"Hey…what are you doing?"

"Winning," replied Kurata simply. "Why? Are you feeling sorry for them? They wanted to kill me, remember? And I'll bet they wanted to do the same to you as well."

**"Beast King Sword!"**

The roar of the second Leomon cut across Kurata's words as he slashed down at the chain that bound his comrade. The chain did not so much as budge against the impact of the lion's blade. Kurata casually hurled the bolder at the lion, forcing him to jump out of the way, lest he be crushed by the blow. Kurata didn't give him a chance to rest. Lifting up the imprisoned Leomon, he used him as a flail and smashed him into his comrade, sending him flying to the ground with a snarl.

Takato watched this unfold, his fists trembling.

"Stop it, Kurata," he ordered, glaring at the scientist.

"Oh? Why should I? Because you told me too? Please." Kurata lashed out with a green chain and whipped Takato across the face with it. Blood sprayed through the air from Takato's mouth and nose as he was knocked to the side. Kurata sniffed. "I think it's time we ended whatever this so-called 'alliance' is and went our separate ways. I'm hardly naïve like you. I don't trust your boss, and neither should you. Now," Kurata reflexively reached up to his face to push up the glasses that were not there, "I think it's time we ended this."

Kurata turned his attention towards the two Leomon, and the violet energy that surrounded him began to expand, forming a massive, muscular figure.

A bolt of red energy slammed into his side. Frowning, he glared at Takato, who was breathing heavily on one knee. Blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and he blinked blearily, appearing unsteady. Smoke rose from his outstretched hand.

_Interesting… He can project energy on his own._

"Don't think that just because you're a human that I'll spare you. The last time I was awake, I swore that I would destroy anyone who opposed me. I'm not going to exempt a teenager from that promise just because he's too stupid to see what's in front of him."

Takato pushed himself to his feet. The shadow that made up his jacket flowed out into one hand, forming a long, pointed lance. He hefted it with an effort and pointed it at Kurata's face.

"You're going to kill those Leomon," he rasped.

"What's your point? They were going to kill me."

Immediately Takato's mind flashed to the innumerable amount of battles from his past, both the recent and the far off. Pain lanced through his skull in response and he staggered.

"I…won't let you kill them," he said, grinding his teeth together. "I made a promise too… And I won't just stand by and let you do it."

Kurata threw his head back and began laughing.

"Do you think I care about the promises _you_ made? You were in the same place that _I_ was! You wouldn't be there if you hadn't done _something_ horrible. Personally I don't know why _I_ was there. I was only trying to protect my world. Oh well." Kurata smirked at Takato. "You can barely stand. I don't think I'll have any trouble with you."

Flicking his wrist, he lifted the trapped Leomon into the air once more.

"Now, I think it's time we ended this…"

"Put…him…_down!"_ growled Takato, taking an unsteady step forward. Blue electricity began to dance around his lance. Shadows crept up from beneath his jacket and began to flow up his face. A haunting white light danced behind his eyes.

Kurata laughed again and raised a bloated energy arm.

"Very well. I shall…_put him down…"_

The energy field began to collapse around his body, and his body began to distort, becoming larger and more animal-like. Horns tore from his skull as his face began to lengthen into a snout and his skin began to darken. Kurata—now taking on Belphemon's form—hurled the Leomon into Takato. The teen let out a surprised cry as the massive lion slammed into him, pinning him to the ground. Kurata stomped towards him.

"The other Leomon and their boss are going to be here shortly," Kurata's voice said from the slathering jaws of Belphemon's body. "I'd better make sure that I won't have any interference when I slaughter them, so I'd better get rid of you while I can." Pausing over the two, Kurata smirked at Takato as he tried to squirm his way out of the unmoving Leomon that pinned him.

**"Fist of the Beast King!"**

The attack exploded harmlessly on his back, causing Kurata to growl in annoyance.

"Knock it off." Slashing out with his whip-like chains and smashing them into the Leomon that continued to resist, throwing him back into the desert floor. "Now…back to the task at hand." Kurata chuckled darkly. "It's too bad that your bodyguard isn't here to protect you. I would have enjoyed tearing her apart."

"Be careful what you wish for," came a smooth, sultry voice whispering into his ear, causing Kurata to stiffen up in surprise. "It just might come true. **Black Wing!"**

The cry resounded upon the air, and the next thing Kurata knew was pain exploding across his back as the crimson-haired LadyDevimon plunged her arm, twisted into a lance, between his shoulder blades. Kurata howled in pain and spun around, trying to attack her, but the demoness flapped her wings, keeping the Demon Lord's back to her. She lashed out with her lance again, this time carving a tremendous gash across his flesh. Kurata lunged forward, trying to escape his tormentor, but LadyDevimon kept on him, stabbing and slashing relentlessly.

"I saw what you did to Takato," she growled, her eyes flashing red. "You won't get off lightly for that. I'll make you _suffer."_

**"Darkness Wave!"**

Spinning in midair, she slashed out with her arm, LadyDevimon unleashed a torrent of dark energy and bats that surged towards the Demon Lord, slamming into his body and attacking his wounds. Kurata howled, but staggered to his feet. A black flames materialized around his chains and he slashed them around him.

**"Lampranthus!"** he shouted, shattering the bats into shards of data. Turning, he glared at LadyDevimon.

"Make _me_ suffer will you? I'd like to see you try."

LadyDevimon licked her licks in anticipation.

"Let's dance."

**…**

Takato pulled himself out from beneath the Leomon with an effort, just in time for the chains to slither off his body to defend their owner. Pushing him onto his side, Takato looked him over.

"Hey…are you all right?" he asked tentatively, glancing up at LadyDevimon to see how she was doing. He swallowed nervously. It wasn't looking good. Returning his focus onto the Leomon, he found that his blue eyes were looking up at him. They appeared dazed, but otherwise he was alive. The lion carefully sat up with a groan.

_He doesn't look like he's going to be able to fight anytime soon…_

"My…sword. Where is my sword?"

"Forget it!" exclaimed Takato. "You need to get you and your friend out of here! You don't stand a chance against Kurata, and he's looking to destroy you guys!" Takato shook his head, trying to grasp how things went so wrong so quickly. "LadyDevimon and I will try to hold him off, but you need to get…"

An explosion suddenly rocked the ground, and in one eye blink Takato found himself flying through the air. In the next, he hit the ground hard. The world swam in his vision as he struggled to his feet.

_The Leomon!_ his mind exclaimed, reeling from shock. Pain erupted in one leg, and he collapsed to his knees.

"Ah! L-Leomon! Get…get…out of…" Takato blinked and looked over at the unmoving form of Leomon. Green fire licked at the burnt remains his mane while pieces of data floated away from his dissolving body. Takato sat there, stunned. He hadn't known this Leomon, but all at once his mind had gone back to Zhuqiaomon's tower. Leomon—Jeri's partner—was lying on the ground at Beelzemon's feet with a hole in his stomach, desperately struggling to get him to understand what he was doing. His eyes went up to Kurata just in time to see the Demon Lord grab hold of LadyDevimon. The Demoness shrieked a number of curses at him as she clawed at him, but Kurata refused to let go.

White light again glowed in his eyes before turning black, and darkness began to rush over his body. The lance that had been in his hand retreated and talons began to grow on his fingers. Long, black fangs grew from the edges of the mouth that replaced Takato's human one. The Tamer got to his feet, a howl preparing to let loose from his throat…

…and that was when _he_ appeared.

Tall and clothed in a black jacket and a curved sword in one hand. A lion-like tail slashed at the air and he tipped the dark Tamer a salute.

"Sorry about this kid," BanchoLeomon said, fire igniting around one fist. "But trust me, this is for your own good."

With that, the lion Mega smashed his fist into Takato's face, and darkness again blotted out his vision.

* * *

A/N: I'm taking something of a risk, writing this while I'm in my finals period for school, but I needed to blow off some steam. BanchoLeomon (the very same one from Data Squad) has entered the picture, though what he's up to will be revealed as the story progresses. The plot progresses…somewhat, though whether or not Takato, Kurata, and LadyDevimon are out of the picture remains to be seen.

'Till next time.

-Crazyeight

* * *

9


	4. What is Owed

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 4/ What is Owed

_The sound of waves crashing upon the shore filled her ears as she looked down at the inert figure lying on the ground before her. She cocked her head to the side quizzically, ignoring the trembling in her legs, while her long ears twitched in agitation. The figure was a strange one. No claws, no armor, no horns—virtually no defenses to speak of and certainly no resistance. The only noticeable traits that it had was a tattered sweatshirt and thick, dirty hair._

I've seen Babies that looked better than this, _she thought, her black-furred tail swishing through the air. The figure on the ground gasped weakly. Dried, parched lips, cracked and bleeding, parted, mouthing a wordless groan. It was, from BlackGatomon's point of view, a most pathetic sight to see._

_ Narrowing her gold-colored eyes, she steadied herself and thought on it for a moment. She turned her gaze at its eyes…eyes that even now still contained a small spark of life. There was no resistance outside, but inside was a flame that absolutely refused to die. It could die at any moment, and she was willing to bet that it had seen far worse than this fate already._

_ She also had a feeling that it knew what awaited it if it disappeared now._

In this world, there's no such thing as sleep. Only lingering.

_ BlackGatomon tore her gaze away and began to move away, only to pause and look back. She could kill the creature—a human if she remembered her stories correctly—and load its data. By doing so it was possible that she could escape this world and return to where there was light. She had heard such stories before, back when she had lived in the digital world._

After all,_ she thought quietly, creeping closer,_ you would do the same thing to me if you could.

_She stopped in front of his face. The human, a young boy, was breathing shallowly now. His eyes were glazed and unseeing. She didn't even register to him._

_ "You wouldn't have stopped if you weren't so weak," she hissed, raising her claws. They gleamed in the darkness as her gold eyes flashed._

_ The boy groaned, and his eyes—eyes that would be red had it not been for the shadows of the Dark Ocean—turned up, locking with hers. His lips moved again, and a small word tumbled from his mouth in a quiet whisper._

_ "…Sorry…"_

_ BlackGatomon's claws lashed out._

**…**

LadyDevimon's claws drew sparks as they clashed with Belphemon's chains. Taking care not to be caught on them, she flapped her wings and drew backwards, unleashing another torrent of bats against her opponent. Chuckling darkly against her retreat, Belphemon advanced.

"What's wrong, LadyDevimon?" asked the Demon Lord in Kurata's voice. "I thought you were going to make me _suffer?_ Could it be that you were just _all talk?"_

"I am _never_ all talk," growled the demoness, though she smirked at the Demon Lord. "I'll take whatever suffering I can get from you, and drag it out for as long as I want."

"You pathetic piece of data trash," spat Kurata, stomping towards her. "You're stalling because you can't beat me. _No one_ can as long as I have this body."

"Oh really?" LadyDevimon's eyes flashed and she raised her crimson nails above her head. "Then allow me to show you just how _dead wrong_ you are!"

Her body became as a blur, and in one moment, she crossed the distance separating her from Belphemon. Reappearing in front of his face, she lashed out, her claws tearing a tremendous gouge across his features. Kurata's voice howled from Belphemon's jaws as he slashed the air in front of him, data spraying from his injury. Laughing, LadyDevimon's body glowed slightly as she took in the loose data that fell from him.

"You taste good," she growled in a sultry, heavy voice. "Not like Takato, but you'll do for a good appetizer. And that's just how I'm going to take you apart—piece by piece. And you'll do nothing but get weaker."

Laughing again, she disappeared, unleashing a torrent of bats to cover her vanishing act. Snarling, Belphemon stormed forward, slashing at the location where she had been and whipping his chains around, kicking up dirt and debris with every strike.

"Show yourself!" he shouted, pausing and looking around furiously. As though in answer, a jolt of pain erupted from his ankle, causing him to stagger and nearly collapse. Spinning, he whipped a chain through the air, but he hit nothing. Data flowed from his injury noticeably, and he eyed it warily.

_She's going to try to go for there,_ he thought. _She'll want to absorb more data…_

He didn't know much about the digital world that he had found himself in. Some rules were the same, but some of the digimon that he had seen so far were unusually different from the ones he had become accustomed to fighting.

_This absorption of data is an interesting twist. A way for a digimon to take advantage over their enemies weakness and gain more power in the process. Taking even a fraction of my strength empowers her greatly. I feel just a little bit weaker already while her attacks feel…stronger. I'll have to end this soon. But first I have to find her…_

"Where are you?" he growled, his gaze scanning the area. His gaze fell upon a figure a short ways off in the distance and he narrowed his eyes, trying to get a closer look. Before he could even begin to make out what it was, a cold, familiar voice spoke into his right ear.

"Right…_here."_

With that, LadyDevimon's _Black Wing_ plunged into his eardrum, causing pain to erupt throughout Kurata's skull.

**…**

BanchoLeomon laid Takato on the ground and took a look at the battle as it unfolded.

"Somehow," he mused aloud, _"spirited_ isn't quite the word I'd use to describe her. But she's getting the job done." Reaching behind his coat, he drew forth his long, curved sword and brought it to bear. "Too bad she's not strong enough to…eh?"

The sound of something hissing tugged at his ears, causing them to twitch slightly. Turning, he saw the boy that he had just laid out starting to get back to his feet, still clad in the strange shadow that had flowed over him like water. BanchoLeomon narrowed his eyes.

_Looks like there's more than meets the eye with this kid,_ thought the lion. _But I can't hurt him._

The shadow-clad Tamer bent downwards, flexing his now clawed hands and eyeing the Mega digimon with dangerous eyes. BanchoLeomon glanced at the human before looking at his sword. Looking back up at the Tamer, BanchoLeomon flipped his sword around so that the blunt edge was facing his soon-to-be opponent.

_The kid may not be in control of himself. I'll have to take extra care here._

BanchoLeomon blinked but once, and then suddenly the Tamer was gone.

_Wha…?_

A weight fell upon his shoulders as a pair of legs wrapped around his neck. Pulling roughly, the weight shifted, and BanchoLeomon found himself toppling unexpectedly backwards, the back of his skull smashing into the hard ground. The lion warrior grunted from the impact, but was soon to pull himself up, barely fazed.

_The kid is fast,_ he noted, looking over his shoulder. The shadow-clad Tamer was circling him, white, glowing eyes focused like a predator on its prey. BanchoLeomon climbed to his feet and cracked his neck. _Or perhaps I should say _it_ is fast._

"I guess you're not interested in doing this the easy way, are you?" he asked the Tamer as he got down into another crouch. "You do realize that if you fight me, you won't be able to help your friend, right? I can help, you know."

The Tamer seemed to pause and tilt his head to the side, as though in consideration.

_Interesting,_ thought BanchoLeomon. He waited for a moment to see what the Tamer would do.

The sound of LadyDevimon's scream caught his attention. Swiveling around, he saw the female demon ensnared in Belphemon's chains, trapped and choking in midair. Howling, the shadow-shrouded Tamer leapt in her direction, a red sphere of burning light forming in his mouth. Switching his sword around, he nodded and soon joined the Tamer.

**…**

LadyDevimon clawed at the chains that held her, but for all the strength she had absorbed she couldn't do anything to them.

_Damn it…_ she growled mentally, no longer having the air she needed to give voice to her thoughts. _These things are made of Chrome Digizoid! I can't cut through them!_

"So," came the dark laugh of Kurata as he brought her closer, "what was that you were saying about making me suffer? It seems like it's going to be the other way around." Belphemon's teeth glinted beneath the desert light. "I'm going to enjoy this…"

A crimson ball of fire exploded against the side of his face. The blast barely even fazed him, but it did cause him to turn to see where it came from. Two figures were running towards him, one a small, lanky, human-like figure garbed in black while the other was tall, muscular, and lion-like with a long, curved sword. The lion caught his attention for some reason, and all at once a rage erupted in the soul of Kurata, causing a violent flare of purple energy to surround him. Whipping his chains, he tossed LadyDevimon away and stormed towards the two, roaring loudly. Rearing backwards, he fired a sphere of white energy. It surged towards BanchoLeomon and Takato. The latter didn't take any notice as he—or his _cloak—_continued to rush forwards. BanchoLeomon on the other hand, drew up short and raised his sword. Flame-like patterns began to appear across its length, and its razor-sharp edge began to glow.

"Better end this soon," he said before drawing his blade back and slashing it. **"Chokhmah! Lion King Slash!" **

With that, a torrent of golden energy flew forth from the sword, slicing through the air until it connected with Belphemon's attack. The two attacks strained against each other for a moment until, finally, BanchoLeomon's cut clean through, shattering the Demon Lord's blast into thousands of shards of data. It tore onwards, smashing into a startled Kurata-possessed Belphemon, ripping open his chest. Light tore free from his body and exploded outwards, filling the landscape with its brightness until finally receding.

BanchoLeomon towered over an unconscious Kurata and a small, sleeping creature clad in chains. BanchoLeomon eyed the small creature warily, his sword still glowing.

_Belphemon Sleep Mode,_ he thought, raising his sword and sheathing it. Looking around, he found the also-unconscious forms of Takato and LadyDevimon lying on the ground. Lifting Kurata and Belphemon up from off the ground, he threw them over his shoulder and walked over to where LadyDevimon and Takato lay, doing the same to them.

_Better get a move on,_ he thought, casting a glance towards the horizon behind him. _The Pride of Courage will be on their way now after the ruckus we caused. It would be best that we not be here when they arrive._

With that, he leapt into the air, disappearing amidst the blistering sand of the desert level of the digital world.

**…**

Marcus cracked his eyes open with a groan and sat up. For some strange reason he felt…_comfortable._ Not exactly what he was expecting, to be honest.

_No hard ground,_ he thought, his mind in a daze. _What happened? The last thing I remember…uh…was…what? I don't think me and Agumon stopped at an inn recently. We haven't seen one since we were at that place owned by the Digitamamon. I had to pull Agumon away from the bowls of soup that he kept ordering…_

Rubbing the back of his neck, he took a look around him. It looked like he had been resting in a traditional-style Japanese house. The furnishings were sparse, but sufficient for guests to feel comfortable in.

_Well, I feel comfortable anyway,_ he thought, tossing aside his blanket and getting to his feet. He felt surprisingly well rested, though a bit unsteady. Massaging the back of his head, a confused expression fell across his face. _Just what happened?_ He glanced around him one more time and his eyes went wide in near panic.

"Agumon! Where's Agumon?"

Rushing towards the nearby door, he threw it open. "Agumon!" he yelled, looking left and right. _"Agumon!"_

"Is there something I can help you with?" came a smooth, feminine voice from behind him. Startled, Marcus spun around to find a golden-furred fox-like digimon that he did not recognize staring at him with deep, blue-colored eyes. Purple arm-guards covered the digimon's arms and a long, bushy tail swept through the air. Quickly recovering, Marcus fell into a defensive stance.

"Where's Agumon?" he demanded. The worry that had been in him intensified suddenly, and a dark flame flared around his right fist. The Renamon's eyes went wide, and she fell back, likewise raising her fists.

At least, that's how it appeared to Marcus.

"Please," she began in a placating manner, her fingers already splaying outwards in a placating gesture, but it was already too late. Before she could continue speaking, Marcus charged towards her, a dark light filling his eyes and an unholy battle cry tearing loose from his mouth.

* * *

A/N: Finals are over. Christmas shopping is over (and with only one week to go). Classes are done and over with. In short, I am, more or less, free to write again. That said, I am going to ease myself back into the groove, look over my notes, and rewatch some episodes of Data Squad to refresh my memory of key events. Today's chapter, as a result, is a little short, but length will improve as I get back into the swing of things. Ahhh…it feels good to be back again. :P

So today we looked at the conclusion of the battle, bringing in some mystery about BanchoLeomon. Kudos points will be awarded to whoever can guess what's going on with him. For the record, Chokhmah isn't a part of BanchoLeomon's attack, but it is something that does exist and is perfectly researchable for anyone who wants to, as it will help with working out what he's up to.

We also touched a little bit on what else was going on with Takato in the Dark Ocean, and we saw Marcus as he recovers. More will be touched on later, and we'll also begin to look at the Tamers in the real world to see how they've fared after their climactic battle at the end of Revival.

'Till next time then. :P

-Crazyeight

* * *

4


	5. Waking from the Nightmare

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 5/ Waking from the Nightmare

Kyubimon took a drink of water from the pail pulled from stone well, smiling as its cool, refreshing taste ran down her throat. She knew that she didn't need it, but she, like most digimon, enjoyed the sensation.

_Besides, I needed a break from watching that guy. All he's doing so far is sleep, so it's not like he's going anywhere. I'll have to thank Renamon when I get back. Hmmm… Maybe I should get something to read from the library so I can relieve the boredom…_

"Kyubimon?" came the voice of Silver as her shadow fell over the kitsune. "I believe I told you to keep a vigil on our guest."

"Ah!" Kyubimon jumped and spun around, immediately bowing her head low to the ground apologetically. "My apologies, my lady. I merely wanted to take a break, so I left one of the Renamon to keep an eye on the human…"

"Peace," interrupted Silver, placing a comforting hand on the kitsune's head. "I did not come here to punish you. I am certain that Renamon is equally capable of keeping an eye on the human. Speaking of whom, how was he when you left?"

"Still resting. His partner however woke up a short time ago. I had some Renamon send him to the bathhouse to refresh himself. He appeared disoriented when he awoke, but he's adapted well once he saw that we have no hostile intentions towards him and his partner."

Kyubimon looked up and saw Silver nodding sagely.

"I see. So he is indeed a Tamer?"

"The term was not mentioned, my lady, but I believe it is the case. That world is one of the primary nexus points, and we are close to it…"

"Unless he has traveled," interceded Silver. "There are many worlds and portals. The Olympian Realms and the Kingdom of Beasts share a border with a common portal to a human world that has seen much activity recently." Silver frowned beneath her facemask. "But enough speculation." She hefted a small pouch that she was carrying and looked towards the living quarter section of the temple. "I shall go and check on our guest. Find his partner and make sure that he returns to his partner's room. I may need his assistance before too…"

A loud smash resounded upon the air, cutting across Silver's words.

"…long," Silver finished. The sound of a bell being rung, signaling alarm began to clang from further off in the temple grounds, and already a swarm of Renamon was quickly shooting towards the living quarters from where the smashing sound had come from. Tucking her pouch onto her belt, Silver hefted her silver staff and took to the air, Kyubimon following quickly behind.

**…**

Renamon looked first at the gaping hole in the wall and then at the human who had a plume of darkness surrounding his body. It seethed around him in a serpentine fashion, beating in time with the heaving of his shoulders. She huffed slightly, showing outward irritation while inside her digi-core beat at a rapid pace. She had barely dodged the human's attack. His speed was—if it made sense—inhuman.

"If I may be permitted to speak," she began, "I am certain that we can find a reasonable way to end this senseless fight without either of us getting hurt."

Marcus turned towards her, a harsh glare on his face. Renamon took an unconscious step backwards, but kept her composure level and calm. She could not afford to show this human so much as a sign of weakness. If she did, it was all over.

"Tell me where Agumon is," Marcus growled. The darkness flared, curling and coiling its edges in the air. Renamon took another step backwards.

"I don't know where he is," she replied. Sovereigns, the human had been asking this question endlessly and he was not taking her replies—the ones she could get out—very well. "But I am certain one of my sisters knows where he is. If I may be allowed to…"

_"No!"_ shouted the human, charging forwards. No sooner than he did so, a series of voices shouted loudly as the air filled with sparkling objects.

**"Diamond Storm!"**

As the namesake suggests, a flurry of razor-sharp rock shot from the hole in the wall behind him. Snarling, Marcus flung one hand backwards, unleashing a torrent of darkness that ensnared the diamonds, snuffing out their light and causing them to shatter into shining shards of data. The darkness died back, revealing a group of some twelve Renamon standing at the hole, fists raised.

"I believe we have made our point," began the lead Renamon, her blue eyes blazing. "Stand down."

"Not until I know where Agumon is!" he snarled. Darkness built up around his fists and all the Renamon narrowed their eyes. All of a sudden they were certain that this would not end well.

They were right. Marcus charged towards them, and the shadowy fire flared. Thrusting his fist outwards, he sent a surge of fire towards the kitsune, causing them to leap out of the way. The Renamon behind him—the one that he first attacked—took the opportunity to leap at him and wrap his arms around him, pinning them to his sides. Half a second later she shrieked and immediately let go. Her once-violet armguards had suddenly turned obsidian black, as did her fur. Her claws went up to eyes that were rapidly taking on a crimson glow and she fell to the ground, screaming.

For an instant, Marcus looked at the digimon with a confused expression on his face, as though he weren't expecting such a thing to happen. He didn't have enough time to properly take this moment in however, as a broken board collided with the side of his skull, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Renamon!" snapped the vulpine that led the twelve, indicating their fallen comrade. "See to her. Everyone! Don't let him touch you!"

"A-Agumon…" grunted Marcus, staggering as he clutched the spot where he had been struck. "Where…where is he…?"

"That is quite enough."

A flurry of white petals suddenly filled the room, and in that moment all combat ceased. Marcus looked around him, utterly stupefied as a feeling of calm began to pervade him. The darkness around him flickered, becoming feeble. A portal opened in the ceiling above him and a shining Sakuyamon—Silver—descended, her arms spread out in a peaceful gesture.

"Marcus Damon," she said in a melodious voice. "We are not your enemy. You and your partner are safe."

Marcus blinked and shook his head. His head felt strange…_quiet._ He could feel all the naked aggression running out of him. He clenched his hands into tight fists. His legs felt wobbly, but he refused to fall. The light emanating from the Sakuyamon began to die down, and the shaman stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. At the touch, his fists slowly unknotted themselves, but he remained standing.

"See to Renamon," she said to the group of kitsune behind her. Nodding, they grouped around their now black-furred comrade and lifted her, whispering comforting words to her as she cried into her paws. A moment later, they were gone, leaving the two alone.

For the moment anyway. The sound of thudding feet could be heard from the hall just outside.

_"Boss!"_ A dripping wet Agumon threw open the door with his claws. "Boss! Are you all ri—ah!" Taking a quick look around he found Silver towering over Marcus with one hand on his shoulder. Agumon took in the damage to the room and immediately stepped inside, small bits of fire licking the edges of his mouth. "Hey!" he exclaimed, getting into a crouch. "You'd better have a good explanation for this!"

_Oh dear,_ thought Silver, sighing mentally.

**…**

"A LadyDevimon delivered you to one of our scouts," said Silver, sitting across from the pair at a table in the temple's cafeteria. "For what reason, I do not know, but I believe that it may have something to do with what happened today. Beyond that, that is all we know." She looked at the pair as they digested her words—and in Agumon's case, digesting the food that he was continuously piling into his mouth. The Rookie had been greatly disappointed that the temple kitchen didn't have any eggs handy for devouring, but he seemed to be getting along without them for the time being. All for the better. There was a strained atmosphere in the room, and any inhabitant that passed by gave the human and digimon a guarded look. Even distaste and anger. She could hardly blame them. The Renamon that had been transformed had been a well-liked Rookie.

_Hopefully the rest of the Seer Council will be able to help her,_ she thought while she waited for the pair across from her to take in her words.

Marcus frowned and grabbed an apple from Agumon's pile, tossing it in his hand thoughtfully.

"Well, I do remember the LadyDevimon that you mentioned," he said. "But I think my memory is a little weird for some reason…"

"That may be because your nature has been thrown out of balance," supplied Silver.

"I doubt it," spoke up Agumon, swallowing. "I was with him. I mean, I remember a lot of fire, but mostly I saw her killing digimon left and right and even loading them. She wasn't exactly the nicest of mon."

"LadyDevimon usually aren't," nodded Silver. "But I would like to hear more about this one. Can you tell me anything about her?"

"How about you tell me about what's happening to me?" asked Marcus. "And what happened to that Renamon?" His expression took on a pained one. "Did I…_cause_ that?"

Silver pressed her lips into one thin line. "I can only say that the possibility is high." She folded her hands together and leaned forward. "You appear to have absorbed a portion of the Essence of Darkness, and it is manifesting whenever you give into your darkest emotions. Its effects can vary but the only certainty is that it will, given enough time, corrupt a digimon who comes into contact with it." She grimaced. _Which makes what happened to Renamon even more difficult. The corruption of her code happened so quickly. The rest of the Seer Council is with her, trying to uncover what happened. I can only hope that the effects were only to her physical appearance. _

"Forgive me for bringing her up again," she resumed, "but I need to know what your relationship was with the LadyDevimon. Digimon of her type and class don't normally enter this level unless they're looking for a fight. The fact that you have absorbed some Essence of Darkness likewise does not bode well for you after your incident. I should warn you that because of it, you will not be looked well upon. We are only now starting to really recover from the ravages from three years ago. Further damage will not be taken lightly, especially if it comes from an enemy."

Marcus stiffened and suddenly got up from his chair, slamming his hands on the table.

"We're _not_ enemies!" he said forcefully, pumping one fist in the air in front of him. "We're trying to help the digital world!"

"Yeah!" added Agumon. "Boss wouldn't be trying to hurt anyone unless they were looking to start a fight!"

"That is what you say," nodded Silver. "But we have only the recent damage to look at. And your…_digi-soul—_your nature—speaks otherwise. As I said, it does not bode well for you."

Marcus leaned backwards, glowering. He knew that he shouldn't be the one on the defensive. Both digimon and humans have seen each other as a whole as enemies in the past due to the actions of a few and the amount of destruction involved. From the human perspective, it had been too easy to see digimon as a danger due to the power that they had and the greater strength they gained from unwitting humans, partner or not. Briefly, he remembered the insane stories that Kurata had mentioned when discussing the first expedition to the digital world. The man had been quickly overwhelmed with fear of the powerful digimon and that had been all it took to set off the chain of events that nearly destroyed his world. After Kurata's genocide of digimon, a first strike seemed like the most sensible answer to prevent further deaths from occurring.

_I guess it's the same here. This lady says that they were recovering from attacks. My losing control of myself couldn't have looked good._

Looking down at his palm, he closed it into a fist. A shimmer of dark, orange light flared around it before it changed into gray.  
_Damn it…_

"Boss?"

"I don't know anything about the LadyDevimon," he replied finally. "We fought her in a village full of digimon." He rubbed a hand through his hair and shook his head. "That…was by itself pretty weird."

Agumon nodded. "Yeah. The digimon—even one that we knew—just went out of control and tried to kill us. The LadyDevimon got involved for some reason and started doing the same to them. But our problems…" Agumon looked over at Marcus. "…I think they started before then."

Marcus glanced at his friend. "What do you…?" He paused. "Wait. The water?"

"Water?" Silver looked back and forth between the two, curious. "Why don't you start from the beginning."

**…**

_Not good,_ Silver thought as she strode through the halls of the healing center of the temple. _This is definitely not good. Oh Urocyomon… What have you gotten yourself into?_

She reached a door and took a deep breath. Behind it, she heard her fellow Sakuyamon talking. _Did they encounter any success with Renamon?_ There was only one way to find out. Reaching forward, she pushed the doors open and strode inside. The group of Sakuyamon and Kuzuhamon gathered around a bed parted, turning their heads to see her.

"Did you get anything from the human and his partner?" one of them asked, hefting her bronze staff.

"Enough," she nodded. "We have trouble."

"I daresay we do," snorted one of the Sakuyamon. She indicated the bed where a sleeping, black-furred Renamon lay, sleeping. Silver pressed her lips together.

"Whatever that human did to her," continued the Sakuyamon, "it appears to be resisting our healing spells. This is going to take some research. Now…about the human…?"

"Their part in this is largely innocent," Silver replied, coming to a rest in front of the bed. "Marcus and Agumon were unaware of the corrupting properties of the Dark Area…"

"The _Dark Area?"_ hissed a Kuzuhamon. "What in the digital world were they doing _there?"_

They had been caught by a data stream," replied Silver calmly. She paused before adding, "They were pulled into it along with Urocyomon it seems."

That got an even greater reaction.

_"Urocyomon!"_ exclaimed a Sakuyamon, horrified. "What was he doing in that Sovereign-forsaken place? By the gods…"

"There is much going on in the digital world as well. According to the human, there is a corrupting influence spreading throughout the digital plains. If I understand him right, it may be the Sin Code…"

There were more than a few gasps of fear and surprise at that.

"As if that human hasn't caused us enough trouble as it is," spat another Sakuyamon. Silver frowned. She knew this one. She did not like the tone in her voice.

"The human, dear sister, is merely a victim of the greater problem. If the damage today didn't come from him it would have come from another."

"You might as well be saying we should be grateful that the hurricane wasn't a tornado or a Mega," replied the Sakuyamon coldly. "It changes nothing."

"Except that we're now aware," cut in a Kuzuhamon. "The damage to the guest quarters is manageable."

"Our daughter here would disagree with you. A _BlackRenamon_ has not appeared since the time of Apocalymon. Do you think that she _wants_ to be like that? Or that she should be grateful she's still living? Would any of you?" Her lips drew up into a snarl. "That human lacks control over himself, and whatever he fell into has turned that lack of control into a vicious animal. It can become unchained at any moment and it can do _this_ to our children and fellow sisters. He should not be here."

Silver bristled.

"Sakuyamon. You know our tenants…"

"Our tenants nearly destroyed our home…"

"Enough, the both of you," interrupted another Sakuyamon, this one with graying hair. "Sakuyamon… Silver… We have enough on our minds at the moment without the two of you adding conflict. However we feel about recent events, we should keep in mind that there are problems developing outside of our walls that we will need to defend ourselves against. The Sin Code to begin with… It would appear that the Dark Area is rising again. We will need to know how bad the situation is and how far it has extended itself. We will need to send our scouts further afield to ascertain this. In addition, we will need to find Urocyomon. The human knows about him at least. He should be able to tell us something. And as for the human…"

"I have gathered some ingredients that should suppress some of the Dark Essence," supplied Silver, presenting the pouch from her belt. "It will take time to prepare though, and in the end it is only a stopgap measure…"

"It is at least a start. He cannot leave these walls until we can be certain he is no longer a danger to others."

The Kuzuhamon that had berated the other Sakuyamon stirred restlessly. "Should we prepare to locate the Princess and bring her here?" she asked. "We will need all the strength and knowledge we can get, and she is the closest heir to the Mother we have."

The gray-haired Sakuyamon frowned beneath her fox-shaped mask. "It is early…too early for her by years. We will need to consult the Digi-Memories before making a final decision on that matter."

The gray-haired Sakuyamon looked down at the BlackRenamon, her mouth showing trepidation.

"Silver. You are working with the human about his…_infection._ See if there is anything you can dig up to help our daughter as well."

"Of course, Aunt," Silver replied, bowing her head respectfully.

**…**

Prometheus stepped out of his portal and touched down in a room filled with darkness. He took a look around impassively, stuffing his hands into his pockets. The air was quiet…_too_ quiet for his liking. It made him feel that the shadows were watching him.

_And they are,_ he thought, sensing the presence that hid within them. _At least I can take comfort from that. It helps to know that I'm not being paranoid like a frightened human would be._

"Norn?" he said aloud. A young girl clad in a gothic dress appeared behind him.

"Yes?"

"Who's out there?"

"That," she said, "would be the angel that we retrieved."

"Lumemon?"

"You could say that." Norn looked up at the shadows, furrowing her brow. "The second entity residing inside him caused some…unexpected side-effects when I re-implanted the Digital Hazard into his body."

Prometheus frowned, not liking the sound of that.

"I take it he is not Lucemon?"

"…No."

"That will need to change." Prometheus pulled his hands from out of his pockets and folded them behind his back. "It is one of the requirements if my plan is to work. Can you do it?"

"I will need time." Norn looked upwards, staring into the depths of the shadows. "It won't be like implanting the Hazard. The second entity is deeply entwined with his Digital Core. Separating it won't be easy, and it risks his life." Norn turned her gaze towards Prometheus. "Perhaps you should find another Lucemon…"

Prometheus simply stared at the girl. "Do _you_ know of any other Lucemon we can find? They are not an easy breed to find outside of either the Heavenly Realms or the Celestial Kingdom, or even _in_ them for that matter. You have the resources. Have you discovered any others?"

Norn was silent.

"I thought so," nodded Prometheus, his voice low. "Please don't waste my time. We are on a timetable here."

_"So I've heard,"_ spoke up a voice from above them. Prometheus could hear the beating of wings and cold air fell upon him.

"Tell me something," began Prometheus in a louder tone. "Are you with us, or against us?"

_"I should be helping someone who dares enslave the Goddess of the digital world?"_ asked the voice giving a dark cackle. _"Someone who dares to enslave me as well and mold me to his desires?"_ A pause before a light cackle broke the silence. _"Sure… Why not? You interest me. Only one thing."_

Prometheus tilted his head to one side. "And that is…?"

_"Don't harm my other self…Taka-chan. I would be most displeased if any harm came to him because of this."_

Prometheus frowned. _Rather full of himself isn't he?_

"Very well," he replied finally. "Until then…what do I call you?"

A pair of bright red eyes, burning like embers, suddenly appeared in the darkness before disappearing. The sound of wings beating increased for a moment before finally fading as the digimon in question flew away. Prometheus suppressed a shaky breath as he placed a hand over his mouth. For some reason, his heart was beating at an uncomfortable pace.

"Metusmon," said Norn. "His new form is now Metusmon. It comes from the word Metus, which means 'fear, dread, anxiety…'"

"I can access a Latin dictionary on my own, thank you," interrupted Prometheus. He silently berated himself for the harshness in his voice. The digimon's new form had left him feeling disturbed.

"He'll remain," she said. "I took the precaution of implanting a root command in his digi-core. He won't leave unless I say so."

Prometheus glanced at her. "You?"

Norn's face paled slightly. "I'm sorry. I did not…"

"Never mind." Prometheus waved a hand at her. "Just make sure he fulfills his part. As long as the digital world is saved and, hopefully, GranDracmon goes to his grave for good, then I don't care. Get the job done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go check up on a few things. Make sure our new companion is comfortable."

"Very well." Norn nodded and watched Prometheus as he turned and formed a new portal. After he stepped through it, the portal closed up behind him and disappeared. Norn waited until a pair of red eyes winked into existence behind her.

_"So…"_ began Metusmon, a hidden, viscous smile drawing upon his lips. _"When do we begin?"

* * *

_

A/N: This chapter we see a glimpse of what has happened to Lumemon since we last saw him, and as Prometheus has now discovered, without even seeing him it certainly wasn't a very good thing. We also see the beginnings of a plot thread starting for the Seer Council and Marcus.

The BlackRenamon was an unplanned addition, and one that I was a little hesitant about since BlackRenamon has been used quite a lot throughout digimon fanfiction. I wanted to show something about Marcus' infection that was a little bit more than just an insane power boost that lacked control. Utilizing the corrupting nature of it and having it transfer to others when it's using a lot of power seemed like a good way to do that and having the result be a BlackRenamon allowed me to experiment with expanding the Seer Council and its history.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time. :P

-Crazyeight

* * *

8


	6. Nightfall

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 6/ Nightfall

Night had flown swiftly over the digital world, covering it in a blanket of darkness. Prometheus sat on a rocky ledge, overlooking the vast expanse of desert before him. He had watched night fall, his eyes distant and thoughtful, appreciating the spectacle that the digital world's nature provided him. He raised one hand lazily into the air, covering a small patch of night sky, staring at it. A blue fire winked into existence in the hand, and he allowed it to dance in his palm for a moment before closing his fingers around it, snuffing it out. A second later, he snapped his fingers and the fire again flared to life in his palm, only to be snuffed out again. Prometheus smirked before leaning back.

"I think I'm enjoying Urocyomon's flame a little too much. Such a simple toy at first glance…"

"Is that why you are here, instead of doing your job?" came a female voice from the darkness behind him. Prometheus shook his head, not bothering to look behind him.

"I'm simply waiting," he replied. "The human world runs on clocks you know. So do the minds of humans. I can't do anything until the Tamers wake up. Until things are settled, I play the game within those limits. You know that just as well as I do. Maybe better."

"You don't exactly do anything with the Tamers," rebutted the voice casually. A shadow fell upon Prometheus' back, but still he did not turn around. "You let that slave—that _thing—_do all the work for you."

"He is ideally suited for it. Funny how the Voice of GranDracmon works. I find it rather ironic too."

"You reach too far, Prometheus. GranDracmon is a part of the natural functions of the digital world."

"So I've heard." Prometheus' face took on a dark look just then. "But that doesn't matter to me."

"Even though his continued existence prevents something even worse from taking his place?"

Prometheus chuckled. "Don't tell me you believe that old myth. It comes from humans."

"You are young among the Proteus, Prometheus."

"Which is ironic, because in human mythos he is quite the old being. But it doesn't matter. I'm older than you, Hera. You should learn that not everything is as it is in the books."

"…Perhaps not," admitted the voice. "But in all the years that Digidestined, Tamers, and otherwise Chosen have fought and faced evil in one form or another, something else has always come after the old. Just as we do. Generations come and go. Our existence is merely a placeholder for what comes after us. In this case, the…"

"Oh, hush up." Prometheus lit another fire in his hand and quickly extinguished it. Dusting off his pants, he climbed to his feet, still not turning around. "I know what you're saying. You just don't want me to go after GranDracmon and remove him from the equation."

"His fate is to be met elsewhere."

"I hate all this talk about fate. No choice. No freedom."

"That's why you like this world over the others."

"This is so," nodded Prometheus. "Did you know this was the birthplace of all digimon amongst all the worlds? And yet, its 'fate' isn't like any other? It has none. Just a little, out of the way, backwater world with nothing special going on about it _except_ that it happened to rub elbows with another world. So close that its communication network spawned new life and dreams were granted." Prometheus shook his head and barked a harsh laugh. "The monkey wrench just thrown in the works. Suffering on countless worlds could also have been avoided if it weren't for this world."

"Suffering has also been alleviated. The children who came to this world needed it."

"Tell that to those caught in the cross fire. Who enjoys not having the benefits of not being central to fate? Then again, considering what happens to those who _are _central… You know, sometimes it's hard to tell which is worse."

Hera was quiet for a moment.

"Just be careful Prometheus. GranDracmon does not figure into our plans. Sealing the breach between the worlds and cleansing the sin virus is all that is needed. GranDracmon's touch corrupts, and you are in close proximity to a piece of his Voice Code. That does not bode well for you."

"Do you think I have anything to worry about?"

"Just because you are a Proteus it does not mean you are invulnerable. I am authorized to remove you if you get out of hand."

Prometheus raised an eyebrow, but still did not turn. "You? _You_ would put me away?"

There was no response. He sighed in exasperation and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He didn't have to look to know that she was gone.

"God damn… She is so full of herself…" Pulling out his hands, he cupped them around his mouth. "I hope you got a good look at my back, Hera!" he shouted. "Because that's the _only_ way you'll be able to take me out! Remember that!"

**…**

Prometheus was in a bit of a foul mood when he stepped out of the portal from the digital world and into the realm of humans, depositing him in an alley in the city of west Shinjuku. The smoke billowing in the sky—remnants of the battle between the Tamers and their most recent adversary, Daemon—was part of it, though for far smaller reasons than his elders would have believed.

A certain ramen stand that he frequented would be closed at this time due to the damage involved, leaving him with nothing to wallow the evening away.

_Oh well,_ he mused, tapping one hand on his chin as he inserted himself into the crowd that billowed outside the alley. _At least the plan is moving. No one can complain about that. As long as the breach is fixed, no one will care what I do._

He sighed despondently and rubbed a hand through his hair. He was bored. He desperately needed something to do. More than that, he needed something to alleviate the worries he felt growing on his mind.

_I was sent here to take care of an important task. Is Hera right? Am I letting my personal feelings get I the way of things? Really, GranDracmon is nothing to me and I don't need to do this, but…_

His thoughts paused as he remembered Hera's warning.

_"Even though his continued existence prevents something even worse from taking his place?"_

_ That's just a myth…a fairytale. It's true things grow and change, especially in the absence of something at the top of the food change, but darkness isn't the same thing. It's mockery and poison and GranDracmon is at the heart of it all. What are we supposed to do? Keep attacking all the pieces and hope the larger monster leaves the universe alone? _

Prometheus sighed again. _Then again, maybe I've been operating in the human world for too long. My thinking might be becoming limited. But…I can't leave just yet. I can't rest yet, not when things are so close to being completed._

Still, he had to admit that his visitor's words rang within him.

_Ugh. I need to occupy myself. I need something to eat._

**…**

He found himself in a quaint little restaurant. It wasn't a Yakiniku restaurant, but it was roomy with plenty of seats, though they were of the sort usually reserved for families of four and not for individuals. He didn't care though. The food was all he wanted, and here he could expect not only speed, but also some measure of quality as well as privacy.

_At least it's far enough away from the battle zone that it managed to stay open,_ he thought. Taking in the number of empty seats that surrounded him, he bit the inside of his cheek. _Even though they're losing revenue because of it. Hmmm… I'd better throw in a little extra when I pay for my meal._

"Hello," spoke a youthful-looking girl with short, closely cropped hair as she stopped by his table. "May I take your order?"

"Yes," smiled Prometheus, glancing down at his menu briefly. "I'd like some soba, if you please. With some side orders of steamed rice and pickled vegetables. Also some green tea as well."

"Very well, sir," replied the waitress, finishing writing down his order. Taking his menu she bowed slightly. "It will be ready for you shortly."

Prometheus nodded and leaned back in his seat to wait, listening idly to the music playing in the background. After several moments, a light haired woman took a seat directly opposite of his own. She had a deeply concerned look on her face, and she glanced around furtively. Finally, her eyes settled on him, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Something I can do for you?"

"Did you hear?"

"About?"

"There was a digimon fight close to the park again."

"Ah."

The woman blinked, taken off guard by his response. "Is that all?"

"I assume that the Tamers had things well in hand?"

"I…" The woman shook her head. "I don't know. I kept running into road block after road block after I left my apartment. The military's all out and about. Fighter planes were flying all over the place. I've been listening to the news. It sounds pretty bad."

"Funny. I don't see any D-Reaper or Parasimon army swarming about."

The woman scowled.

"How can you say something like that? This is…_insane!_ The digimon… Ever since they started showing up there's been nothing but attacks."

"I saw digimon playing with children in the park," Prometheus noted as the waitress arrived with his green tea. Thanking her, he took it and sipped it. "Clearly those kids were in danger of playing too much."

"This is _not_ funny! Those digimon go after kids too you know! They _make_ them fight!"

"Hmmm…" Prometheus nodded. "You got me there. But hey, we live on an island prone to earth quakes, and then there's Mount Fuji to consider. Makes me wonder what kind of people would keep living under that shadow, knowing that it's still active." Prometheus flicked his teacup playfully and rotated it, looking over the intricate designs. "Just another hazard of the world I guess…only this time it's manmade. No one to blame but ourselves."

The woman's glare could have melted ice. "So you're one of _those_ supporters, I see."

"And what are you?"

The woman didn't answer, and instead turned away, deciding to busy herself with the menu in front of her. Prometheus didn't bother to pursue the conversation any further. It wasn't the first time he had encountered someone belonging to the Children of Gaia. They tended to go out and look to start recruiting whenever there was a particularly massive fight, such as this one. Some of them had more success outside of the city—a strange oddity, Prometheus felt all things considered—but on occasion one or two would work on the citizenry that were more supportive of the Tamers and the work that they did. It left him wondering whether or not such people were very new to the business or just that deluded.

In the end though, this did not matter to him. All that mattered was that he completed his mission in a satisfactory manner.

His meal arrived shortly, as promised, and he dove into it with about as much dignity as a drowning man, slurping up the soba noodles. They were cold, not something he necessarily enjoyed, but noodles of any kind he enjoyed to the utmost, hot or not.

_Even if I don't need to eat,_ he thought, taking a moment to dab at his chin so that he at least had _some_ measure of dignity left. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman eyeing him. Grinning, he winked at her, and she glared in return before focusing back on her menu. He shrugged and wet back to his meal, finishing up his soba and diving right into the steamed rice without even breaking stride.

_I wonder what I should do after I'm through here,_ he thought. _I suppose that I could go check out the situation down in the park. I'd return Urocyomon's flame if I could depend on those things from the Dark Area to leave him alone, but I can't do that…yet. They're tricky little bastards, which leaves me with a problem. Urocyomon could potentially die, and not all the magic of the Seer Council can save him unless his flame is returned to him._

Raising one hand, facing so that his palm would not be seen by the woman sitting next to him, he focused his gaze on it. White lines materialized along the surface of his skin before forming a small, circular, flame-like pattern. Prometheus nodded to himself in approval.

_This substitute code will have to make due until the situation has passed. It'll keep him safe at least, but his 'specialness' won't be available as long as he lacks the real thing. But to make it work, I'll need something to act as a medium. A partner perhaps? Can't exactly throw him to the wolves like that though. Decisions, decisions…_

Lowering his hand, he finished up the last of the rice before moving on to the pickled vegetables.

_Oh well. I've got some time before the situation becomes dire. I'll work it out. In the meantime…I still need something to do._

Munching on the remnants of his meal, he leaned back into his seat and stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

It took him a moment to realize that there was some trouble starting up in the seat next to him.

His waitress had arrived to take the woman's order, and right then and there her temper apparently took hold. Swallowing, he watched the scene as it continued to unfold. The woman was trying to strike up a conversation about the latest digimon attack, barely an hour concluded. The waitress, for her part, was politely trying to avoid the topic, but the woman kept pursuing it.

"…I just don't see how anyone can keep letting this sort of thing happen!" the woman exclaimed, her voice rising a little. "It's like some sort of sick game now! And you know something…that's how it _started!_ I saw all the reports and documentaries… Those 'Monster Makers' made those things that way…"

"That's…really _interesting_ ma'am, but I really have to get back to…"

"Is there a problem, Mayumi?"

A big, burly man appeared just behind Prometheus' seat, causing him to crane his head to see what was going on. He knew who it was. The owner of the store, and a man who was definitely a supporter of the digimon Tamers. He had been here during the anniversary of the D-Reaper's defeat. The man had posted an extra-large poster detailing this fact for everyone to see and, if the Guilmon bread was any indication, had some kind of business deal with the Matsuki's. He did not take very well to any negative words being voiced about the local heroes.

"It's nothing, Mr. Sakamoto," Mayumi replied nervously. "I was just taking a customer's order…"

"Is that so?" asked Sakamoto, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at the seated woman, his eyes a dark glare beneath the bandana tied around his forehead. "I've been listening to what's been said. Miss…I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The woman's mouth all but dropped to the floor in shock. "But…"

"Digimon and their Tamers are respected here," cut in Sakamoto. "You're free to have your opinions, but you leave them at those doors if you want to eat here. So unless you've saved the world recently, I'd like to ask you again, politely, to leave."

The woman sputtered angrily for a moment before getting out of her seat and storming off, nearly knocking over another customer in the process. Sakamoto and Mayumi watched her slam the door shut before relaxing.

"Sorry about that Mayumi," said Sakamoto, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And sorry to you too, ma'am."

The customer, a woman with coppery-skin and short, almost blonde hair that fell over one eye, wearing smart, but casual clothes and carrying a handbag looked over at the main entrance before returning her gaze to Sakamoto.

"If I can get something good here, I'll consider the apology unnecessary."

Sakamoto nodded. "Mayumi, please seat her and take her order. I'll be in the kitchen."

"Y-Yes sir. Um…this way ma'am." The young waitress directed the newest customer to a seat directly in front of Prometheus and quickly took her order. After she left, the woman turned around and threw an arm on the seat behind her, taking a look at Prometheus.

"So what was that all about?"

"Anti-digimon extremist," Prometheus replied. The woman grinned.

"They're getting more and more common it seems. But they still haven't learned to steer clear of Shinjuku. They won't find many friends here."

"They have something of a point though," admitted Prometheus. The woman grimaced.

"Don't tell me that she got you seeing her point of view…"

Prometheus chuckled. "No. Just a thought, that's all. I've got bigger things on my mind right now."

"Oh?" The woman grinned and shifted slightly, trying to give him her full attention. "I don't suppose you want to talk about it, do you? I could use a little conversation."

Prometheus frowned inwardly. Talking with a human was…not something he did. And yet…

_Well, I'm bored anyway._

"Just making some decisions for my company," he said. "I guess you could say it's for a script I'm writing."

"You working for a television studio?"

"We're a new one trying to get into the business. Struggling mainly. It's…" he paused, considering before a smile broke across his face. _Why not mix lies with the truth?_ "It's about digimon."

"Why am I not surprised?" asked the woman sarcastically. "Ever since they became real, the copyright issues have gone up in the air. Everyone's got their own take on it."

"Sorry for not being original."

"Mmm…" The woman smiled, folding her arms on the back of the seat and resting her head on them. "Don't be. This is one of the better conversations I've had all day. You know something…" She got up from her table and swung around, seating herself across from him. "Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Rinoka."

"Pleasure to meet you," he greeted, taking her hand as she extended it. "I'm…" he hesitated before answering. "…Yuzuro."

"Had to think about that one?"

"I don't hand out my name to everyone. I'm very choosy."

Rinoka's grin widened. "My favorite kind of person. I hope I make the cut."

Prometheus took a sip from his green tea. "Well, you're cutting anyway."

Rinoka raised a playful eyebrow. "Tell me something," she began. "You doing anything after dinner?"

**…**

_The pain…was everywhere._

_ It had been there for a while now. He had long since lost track of how long. Its change between sudden, sharp pains to long, dull pains left him with little chance to measure time…if he had been able to begin with. The gray skies above him never changed. No sun, no nightfall, no nothing to tell time by. _

_ "Not even a digivice," he whispered between cracked lips. He felt something warm and wet on them and he lifted his hands to wipe them. Blood stains—they looked like blood stains anyway, but he could no longer be sure—marred his skin. He was badly dehydrated. When was the last time he had drank any water? He could no longer remember. All he knew for sure was that he couldn't drink any more. _

_ Takato shivered. He remembered what happened when he had a taste of that black ocean that lay to his side, crashing against the shore. Although he couldn't tell how much time had passed, he knew that the pains he felt now had started with the water. That and…everything else._

_ He wiped a forearm across his forehead and upon bringing it down he gasped as he saw a smear of darkness upon it. The world swam suddenly and he collapsed to his knees, clutching the sides of his head._

_ "No…" he moaned, feeling something beginning to rise from inside him. "Not again…"_

_ His sides jerked, and Takato clutched at them, gasping painfully, struggling to maintain control. His vision blacked out—briefly—before returning to normal. He fell over to his side, breathing heavily. _

Looks like I won this time,_ he thought, regaining control. The thought did not sit well with him. Did it mean that he won through sheer force of will? Or was it because whatever was inside of him was as weak as he was right now because they happened to share the same body? He shuddered and clambered back to his feet. _

_ His stomach growled angrily at him._

_ Food. Hunger. That was something else. It was pretty clear by now that, unlike the digital world, things like hunger and thirst continued to hold sway. In fact, they did so with a vengeance. Takato never really prided himself on being particularly strong, but after his first trip into the digital world, where he and his friends had first arrived in the middle of a blazingly hot desert, he thought he was at least tough enough to go for a spell without water. At least a day, he believed._

_ He didn't last that long. Problems with his lips and thirst began well before the day had been out. And that was taking out the fact that his stomach was practically gnawing away at him._

_ Takato avoided looking at his arms and legs now. He didn't want to think about how thin they were starting to look. The shakiness that he felt in his legs told him all he needed to know._

_ He needed to eat. He needed to drink. The water, unfortunately, might as well be poison. Food was practically nonexistent. There were plants and the like, but of the variety that tried to eat him. He barely escaped his first encounter with some vines hanging off a tree, and that was just what was close to the beach, and they practically lined it. He had been following the beach in the hopes of finding a gap between them, but so far he came across nothing but tall grass and vicious vines. The beach, so far, remained the only safe haven._

_ Takato laughed. He felt disturbed that he was doing so, considering his situation, but he laughed anyway. His safety was a joke. He was dying by inches in the only safe place in this world of darkness. He needed food. He needed water. The only two places that offered both were far too dangerous for him to…_

_ Something up ahead. A figure. Takato started to his feet, his eyes straining in the gloom. It was…a digimon? A small one by the look of things. His vision wasn't too terribly good, so he couldn't tell what one it was, but from what he remembered small was generally a good sign that it was at least a Rookie or lower. It wasn't a hard or fast rule, but it was common enough that it might as well have been one._

_ And what was more, it looked helpless._

_ "You're data now," whispered a voice inside Takato's mind. He couldn't tell if it was his own or not, but he heard what it meant._

_ If he was data, then couldn't he absorb data?_

_ Takato licked his lips carefully. They stung at the contact, but he ignored it. His heart beat rose. Carefully, ever so carefully, he knelt down and lifted a rock buried in the sand._

"_Would it do the job?" asked a part of him. _

_ "It had better," replied another. With that, he started forward. He soon stood over the digimon—a BlackGatomon—his eyes wild and desperate. He could feel the rock's weight in his hand and he hefted it carefully. The BlackGatomon hadn't even noticed him yet. It seemed to be in a pretty sorry state with its unkempt fur. Was it a new arrival? Or just seeking sanctuary?_

_ Briefly, Takato had a thought. If a digimon ran to here for safety, then what was it about this beach that kept everything at bay, ocean or land?_

_ Shaking the thought off, he again hefted the rock and raised it._

_ The BlackGatomon's eyes snapped open at just that moment._

**…**

LadyDevimon swaddled Takato's unconscious body with her wings, keeping him warm. Her crimson eyes cut through the darkness, glaring at the figure of BanchouLeomon as he kept a close eye on the desert. They had been forbidden from having a fire, as the Pride of Courage would have simply found them all the more easily with it, and were currently holding up in a cave. Kurata remained unconscious, and significantly less protected from the desert's extreme cold compared to Takato, though he and Belphemon were both covered by BanchouLeomon's jacket. The Mega casually sucked on the blade of grass he kept in his mouth, his eyes tracking the vast expanse of desert.

She didn't see the living shadow creature that had earlier covered Takato, but she knew it was nearby. The creature was _always_ close.

She growled slightly, and BanchouLeomon raised a quieting hand.

"They're still out there," he whispered.

"I _know_ that," she hissed, pulling her wings closer to Takato. "I can sense them as easily as you." She glared at the unconscious Kurata, cursing him and her master for making them bring him along. From the very start, he did nothing but cramp their style. "We should take the fight to them."

"That would not be a good idea," replied BanchouLeomon.

"I'm sorry." LadyDevimon parted her wings slightly and raised a single, crimson claw. "Did I say that I was going to listen to you?"

"SaberLeomon may be weak to your type, but he is an experienced Mega. He would kill you with ease. Also, would you be willing to leave your human alone?"

LadyDevimon lowered her claw back behind her wings. "He is not alone…"

"Yes he is. He has only you and himself to help him. As he is, that is not enough."

LadyDevimon narrowed her eyes. "Don't speak in riddles."

The blade of grass in BanchouLeomon's mouth shifted slightly, but he betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

"A data stream should be here soon," he said finally. "We'll have to make a run for it when it comes. The Pride won't be able to follow us if we get into it."

LadyDevimon seethed. Her wings flexed, but otherwise she didn't make a move…yet. She couldn't afford to attack him, not yet. Not while Takato was unconscious.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Why are you even helping us?"

"My reasons are my own."

LadyDevimon made a threatening noise. BanchouLeomon chuckled slightly.

"Not with your partner so vulnerable," he pointed out. LadyDevimon ground her fangs together.

"We are _not_ partners! Your kind has no reason for helping us. You know where I'm from, and where _he_ is from as well. Aiding my kind is not something you do."

"So why do you think I'm helping you then?"

"You're after something."

"I serve my own justice. I don't need someone else's prescribed ideas of justice to tell me who to protect and who not to."

"Even for him?" LadyDevimon nodded towards Kurata. She smirked. "He committed genocide you know. One of your kind, I have heard, fought against him while he was doing that."

"I know. I was the one fighting his Gizumon."

LadyDevimon's eyes narrowed further.

"You don't have to trust me," he said, still looking out over the desert. "But for now, your goals and mine intersect. You're strong enough to escape if you have to, with your human. But with him, and the other two, unconscious, little more than dead weight, do you want to take your chances while being pursued by the Pride?"

"I have no reason to follow you. I don't need you, or any of them!"

BanchouLeomon turned towards her, a critical eye looking her over. He didn't say anything, but she could tell what was going through his mind. She was still there.

Beneath her wings, she moved her arm around Takato and pressed one hand against her side. She drew in a sharp hiss at the contact. She was still healing from her battle with Kurata when he was in his Belphemon form. Their nearly constant run since its conclusion hadn't helped much, putting continuous strain on her energy reserves.

"How about I offer you something that I happen to know that you're looking for," BanchouLeomon said finally, his eyes shining in the night. "A certain human with unusual capabilities. A human who has an interest in Kurata over there."

LadyDevimon schooled her face to stillness, while beneath her wings her claws clicked together. After a moment of thought, she thrust her wings apart, shifting Takato's body against her so that she could carry him more easily.

"Do you think you can get us to _trust_ you just by saying something like that?" she demanded hotly. "You are of the light. We have _nothing_ in common. We do not lend each other aid, and we kill each other on sight." Her fangs flashed in the moonlight as she got into a crouch, preparing to take flight. Thoughts of Kurata and Belphemon were far from her mind, but the feel of Takato's body pressed against hers was very close. "I will not allow you to _touch_ him!"

BanchouLeomon merely shook his head and turned away, startling LadyDevimon. She hadn't expected him to turn his back on her. For the first time, she hesitated.

_Takato…he would consider trusting this digimon,_ she thought. She glowered at the idea. _But then, that's what gets him in half the messes he does._ She tightened her grip on him._ That's why he still lets me stay near him._

Rage flashed in her heart as she realized the direction her thoughts were going.

_ No. That's not true. He only lets me stay near him because of our agreement. Because he doesn't want anyone else to suffer at my hands. And also, because his ability to protect himself is so pathetic, even with that creature helping him._ LadyDevimon stood up, smirking, as though in triumph.

_This digimon might know something that could help us. Because of his idiocy, Takato might trust him. I don't. But we still need a lead on the entity that broke into our master's domain. I…_

"The data stream is approaching," said BanchouLeomon all of a sudden, interrupting her thoughts. He pointed out towards the horizon where a pink column of energy was making a sweep across the landscape. It was rapidly heading towards their direction.

Spinning around, BanchouLeomon lifted Kurata, his jacket, and Belphemon Sleep Mode back into his arms and took off at a dead run. LadyDevimon scowled at his back, waiting for a moment until Takato's body became awash with darkness. He stirred as the shadow creature took control, and LadyDevimon walked towards the mouth of the cave, spreading her wings. Together they took to the air, and within moments were lost to the light of the data stream.

* * *

A/N: This chapter adds a couple subplots that are more long-term than anything else, but it does a lot to begin to peel back the layers of Prometheus' character and what he's looking for as far as his mission goes. As for the flashback scene involving Takato, yes I realize that it is out of order with the one from chapter 4, but I felt that the placement was important this too much else to say, so I'll see you next chapter. :P

-Crazyeight

* * *

10


	7. Brand New Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 7/ Brand New Day

_This must be what they call the afterglow,_ thought Prometheus. He shifted on the bed, placing one hand over his forehead to blot out the sun coming from the window. He could hear the bustle of Shinjuku just outside, filling the calm of the morning. He closed his eyes and sighed. He wondered at the quiet feeling that flowed through his body. Could he call it contentment? At the very least, he could say he was 'relaxed', and in more ways than one.

A warm body shifted on the bed next to him and a hand fell over his chest. He glanced over at its owner. Rinoka's light hair fell over her face. A small smile graced her features, and with her eyes closed, resting, she looked for all the world as innocent as a newborn child, without a care in the world.

_I wonder if I did good?_ Prometheus wondered idly. Sexual matters were not something he was used to dealing with—at least not personally. He had everything he needed to pass for a human, but ultimately his goal was not anything related to the condition. His whole existence was made for one purpose and one only. He had no room for a life beyond that. Sighing again he turned away and looked back towards the window.

_I have things that I have to do,_ he thought. _I should be going soon._

Despite the thought, and the urgency of his mission, he didn't move just yet. He continued to rest where he lay, basking in the warm glow of his 'partner', allowing himself to enjoy the moment. He found a strange peculiarity as well. He wanted to enjoy the moment for as long as possible.

_Why?_ The question didn't receive an answer, and it felt too vague to deserve one. So he tried again.

_Why did I agree to spend the night with this woman? Or have sex with her for that matter?_ He closed his eyes and thought back. The night, oddly enough, seemed as a blur. He merely wanted to kill time so that he could get onto the next phase of his mission. When she came on to him he didn't resist, allowing her to lead as she desired. It had all been…tantalizing up until the very end.

A small smile drew across Prometheus' face and his chest heaved suddenly as he snickered.

_It's not the same as the Web, but it was…close enough. It was good. It was…good. _

His fingers curled around the blanket of the bed as Rinoka shifted against him again, curling her leg in between his. Prometheus drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out in a sigh of disappointment. He felt the swell of her breasts pushing against his arm in a comforting manner. He wanted to turn towards her, but he knew that he couldn't allow himself. Not while he had work to do. Carefully, he disentangled himself from her, taking care so as to not disturb her and sat up on the edge of the bed, taking in the city that he saw before him.

_It's a brand new day,_ he thought, looking out towards the Hypnos towers. _Time to get back to work._

**…**

_Dull gray clouds were all that filled his vision as he looked up towards the sky. His breath came out in slow, shallow breaths that felt as though they barely registered… At least until the back of his head collided with a rock. He grunted as stars exploded across his vision and shifted his head in the sand. Where the heck was he? _

_ He managed to raise his head and saw that he was being dragged across what looked like a beach by..._

_ He gasped loudly as memory came back to him. The Dark Ocean! He was in the Dark Ocean! And the creature dragging him was…_

_ Gold colored eyes belonging to a black-furred Gatomon turned to stare at him. Her eyes glowed but once and all sight left Takato as his head fell back to the ground once more._

**…**

"Nnn…" Rika's face was pulled into a grimace as her eyes opened. She could hear a steady beeping somewhere off to her side and her grimace was swiftly transformed into a scowl. A white-tiled ceiling was the first thing she saw, and it left her with no question as to where she was. She sat up and scowled around her.

_A hospital,_ she thought, her violet eyes panning around the immaculately clean room. _Geez…what the heck happened? The last thing I remember was…_

Her thoughts were interrupted briefly as her gaze fell upon a sleeping, tousle-haired teenage boy sitting in a chair next to her bed. Takato. His arms were folded across his chest and his head was drooped down. She glanced down at the boy's feet to find a red-scaled Guilmon curled up around his ankles, snoring surprisingly softly. She found herself smiling slightly before turning her attention to the wires connected to her.

"Someone care to tell me what's going on?"

"Good morning, Rika," came the voice of Renamon as she phased into view next to the girl's bed. The red-haired girl looked at her vulpine friend, her smile widening.

"Renamon!" she exclaimed. The sound of her voice caused Takato to snort and jolt suddenly. His eyes fluttered open and he was already getting to his feet.

"Huh? Wha…? Rika!" he began, his voice slurring from sleep. "What's…"

The teen squawked suddenly as his feet, still trapped beneath Guilmon's weight, tripped him up and sent him flying to the ground. Fortunately, for him, his training with Henry's teacher, Chou Sensei, reacted automatically to save himself from what would, in the past, leave him sporting a rather nasty bump.

Unfortunately for him, Guilmon, disturbed by his partner's sudden movement, raised his head, further deepening Takato's lack of balance and upsetting his attempted save, succeeding in what the boy's training had begun to cause to fail.

_I'm pretty sure there's an order to all of this,_ thought Rika, watching in bewilderment while her boyfriend impacted the floor with all the grace and dignity of a turtle falling out of an airplane.

"Hey, Takato!" exclaimed Guilmon, looking over at the girl with excitement on his face. "Rika's awake!"

"Thanks Guilmon…" groaned Takato, the last of his limbs coming in for a landing with an ungraceful thud. The expression on his face spoke volumes about his pride at that moment. Rolling over, he staggered to his feet and over to Rika's side, rubbing the back of his head in both embarrassment and pain. "So…uh…how are you doing, Rika?"

"A lot better than what you're feeling right now, I imagine," smirked Rika. After a moment of contemplation she reached up and ruffled his hair where his hand was. Takato blinked, surprised by the sudden gesture. "So what's going on? Care to tell me how _I _ended up in the hospital bed this time instead of you? You're usually the one who…"

Memories flashed through Rika's mind from the battle just then, and she pursed her lips together tightly while her hands balled up into fists.

"…who usually ends up in here," she finished, her expression falling into a dark frown as she glanced at him. Takato smiled.

"Actually, me and Guilmon have you and Renamon to thank for that," replied Takato. Reaching out, he took one of her hands into his own, and now it was Rika's turn to blink in surprise. "You created a shield for us after we de-biomerged. It worked…mostly."

"Takato…" Rika sighed and closed her eyes, clasping Takato's fingers with her own. It had worked. Takato and Guilmon were both alive and well…

"Wait." Rika's eyes snapped open and her grasp on Takato's fingers tightened accusingly. _"Almost?"_

Takato scratched the side of his chin, an uncertain look on his face. Rika's eyes fell into a glare.

"What happened? You two look fine so…" her gaze panned around the room. "Where are the others?"

"Everyone's fine," replied Takato. His uncertain expression deepened. "Well…sort of."

"Takato. I could crush your hand right now."

Renamon placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, but looked imploringly at Takato.

"Why don't you just tell her?" the vulpine asked.

"Right. If it's just something boneheaded you did, I _promise_ I won't get mad."

"I wish it was something I did," sighed Takato. "It's just…well, Henry's sister, Suzie…"

"What about her? Is she all right?" Rika's voice took on a tone of urgency as she thought about the young girl and her family. _Please tell me she didn't get hurt…_

"She's sleeping," continued Takato, putting her at ease. "And as near as the doctors can tell she's fine. But…" a pause. "…we think she may have dark digivolved Lopmon to the Mega level."

Rika's fingers relaxed around Takato's hand as she processed that information. "What did you say?"

"It's only what I've been told. Ryo and Miki were both still awake to see. That and…"

A loud cough broke across their conversation. Turning, Takato saw a nurse with a clipboard in one hand and a fearsome glare on her face.

"Uh-oh," said Guilmon, his bat-like ears wilting under the nurse's stern gaze. "We've been found."

Rika raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Takato Matsuki!" The nurse strode forward and nodded towards Rika. "Sorry to break this up, but your friend is supposed to still be under observation and not wandering around on his own. Doctor's orders."

"But…but…"

"No _buts_ mister." The nurse poked Takato's chest and the boy backed up unconsciously, nearly falling onto Rika's bed in the process. "Back to your room. _Now!_ And don't sneak out again! The only time I want to see you up and around is either to use the bathroom or when you're checking out. _Got it?"_

Rika thought about intervening, but instead she smiled and shook her head, giving Takato's hand a soft squeeze.

"Don't worry, Takato. We can finish this conversation later." She winked at him meaningfully. _Remember?_

The boy looked at her uncertainly at first, having heard her thought, but then nodded reluctantly. With that, both he and Guilmon allowed themselves to be pushed out of the room. Rika watched them go for a moment before sighing.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay, Renamon," she said, bringing one arm to rest on her knee. Renamon smiled as she folded her arms across her chest and nodded.

"Likewise. How are you feeling?"

"Like Takato after he's had a wrestling match with Guilmon…only worse." Rika gave her partner a tired smile. "Do you know anything else that happened while I was out?"

"No more than what Takato was told, I'm afraid," the vulpine digimon replied with a shake of her head. "There is a bit more than what he's told you however."

"At least Suzie's okay though."

"She is fine, physically," pointed out Renamon. "However…" She let her words drift off, knowing Rika knew what she was getting at.

"Yeah," the girl nodded. "A dark digivolution." She narrowed her eyes. "That's never a good thing. At least she's sleeping. How's Henry holding up?"

"Very much like Takato just now," observed Renamon. "Only he was finally moved into her room to keep him from wandering around."

"I…see." Rika furrowed her brow slightly as she thought about it for a moment. "So how come he hasn't been moved into _my_ room then?"

That sounded bad, and Rika instantly regretted her words the minute she said them. She meant them as a joke, but years of being in the company of Ryo and Terriermon caused her to blush instantly, seeing the meaning behind them. Renamon made no sound or gesture that the words were anything more than what she intended them to be though.

"While Takato has spent a significant amount of time watching you, he has been back and forth between everyone as well, especially Henry and Ryo. He could hardly be moved into everyone's room."

"Right." Rika's blush subsided a little, grateful for her partner's digression. "What about the others?"

"The others are fine it would seem. However, Ryo on the other hand…"

Rika raised an eyebrow, feeling concern wash over her at the pause in her partner's voice.

**…**

Life was full of unfairness.

"Does it hurt?"

"Don't poke at it, Monodramon," sighed Ryo, scowling at his partner, currently in his much smaller and more manageable Rookie form. Monodramon blanched and pulled his claws away from Ryo's left arm, dressed in white bandages and twin to his left leg as well. Likewise, a bandage was wrapped around his forehead and two more were stuck on the sides of his face, covering his cheeks. His face had a sickly look to it, but he was doing better than he was earlier—at least that was what the doctors told him. It was noted that he was healing at a significantly faster rate than the average human.

_Guess Takato's not the only one who's taken on too much digimon data,_ thought Ryo. He wanted to smile, but didn't have the good cheer to try. It was perhaps for the best. He didn't want to try doing anything that could potentially cause problems. Being burned by his own armor had been bad enough as it was.

_Could have been worse,_ he mused, closing his eyes. _Could have been worse…_

There was a small knock at his door. Glancing in its direction he saw Miki looking at him with a small, worried smile on her face.

"Hey," she said. "How are you doing?"

Ryo offered the girl a small smile. "Well…now I know how Yakitori feels when it's being cooked."

Miki scowled at the Legendary Tamer. "You shouldn't joke like that. You were really hurt out there."

Ryo shrugged and, in spite of his reservations, forced a smile on his face. "Sorry. I forgot that jokes like that were more Terriermon's line. He might as well have them trademarked."

Miki's scowl deepened but she strode on into the room and planted herself in a seat next to the boy. Huffing loudly, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts. Ryo's smile became a bit more natural.

"Sorry to get you all worried," he said finally.

"This is what you get for always throwing yourself into danger you know," she berated him. "You just _had_ to cover me when the explosions started." She looked down and pouted a little. "Just because I'm not as experienced as you doesn't mean I can take care of myself you know. I've had a few years to work with." Her pout soon turned into a glower. "Even though I need more pointers in the card game…"

A pall of silence fell between them, Miki tactfully looking away from Ryo while Ryo looked at her with Monodramon looking back and forth between the two of them. After a moment, Ryo spoke.

"How's Dracmon holding up?"

"He's being cranky," Miki replied. "He doesn't like the hospital food, but he says as long as they feed him he'll be fine."

"Quantity over quality, huh?" Ryo chuckled. "Wouldn't that just make him feel worse?"

"Probably," huffed Miki. "And when that happens, I'll be the one looking after him. The jerkmon."

Miki allowed a small smirk to grace her face and she snuck a glance at Ryo, who still smiled.

"Did the hospital give you a clean bill of health?" he asked, noting that Miki was dressed in her civilian clothes as opposed to the hospital garb. Miki nodded.

"Thanks to you," she said, nodding. "And…thank you."

"Anything for a fellow Tamer," he replied hoarsely.

"Yeah?" Miki gave him a teasing smile. "Then how about letting me protect you next time?"

"Sure," whispered Ryo before his words dissolved into a series of coughs. Springing from her seat, Miki glanced around and quickly found a glass of water with a straw sitting on the nightstand. Leaning forward, she pushed the glass to Ryo's lips and he drank gratefully. After several seconds, she pulled away and he nodded.

"Thanks."

"Sure," Miki smiled. "Anything for a fellow Tamer"

Ryo nodded, opened his mouth as if to say something, and then paused, a thoughtful look on his face. Miki moved her head down, trying to get a better look at his face while looking meaningfully at him.

"What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could do something for me," said Ryo. "Everything's been so chaotic that I don't know if anyone's gotten the chance to call Jeri and let her know that everyone's all right."

Miki nodded, smiling again. "I'll take care of that now. Do you need any more water before I go?"

Ryo shook his head.

"Nah. I'll be fine. I've got Monodramon here after all."

"All right." Miki turned towards the purple dinosaur. "You take good care of him, okay?"

"I will," nodded Monodramon. Giving a small giggle, Miki reached out and gave him a scratch around his ears. The dinosaur made a pleasurable, gurgling noise and nuzzled the girl's hand before she let go.

"I'll come check on you after I talk to Jeri," she said as she left the room. "I'm sure she'll be glad to know that everyone's all right."

"Okay," Ryo smiled. "Thanks."

**…**

Miki made her way down the hall, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable and not certain as to why that was. Shaking her head, she looked around for a pay phone. Hospital rules aside, her cell phone—given to her courtesy of Hypnos—had been destroyed in the fight, and as such wasn't up to the task of calling anyone. And unfortunately, the same held for everyone else's as well.

_It doesn't help that Hypnos is a mess too,_ she thought. _At least, if what Riley said means anything when she first looked in on us. It took forever for them to contact our families and let them know we were fine._

Miki sighed. Her parents were coming to pick her and Dracmon up. She didn't really want to go, not with all her friends—with the sole exception of Kazu and Guardromon, wherever they were—not able to leave just yet.

Not while _Ryo_ wasn't able to leave just yet.

"Excuse me, nurse?" asked Miki to a passing nurse, giving up and deciding that she needed help. "Could you tell me where there's a payphone around here?"

"There's one just down the hall that way," replied the nurse, pointing behind her. "Just take a left and you'll find one."

"Thanks." Miki followed the nurse's directions and quickly found the payphone. Digging into her dress's pocket, she fished out the yen necessary to make a call. Strangely, it felt as though it took forever for her to push her money into the slot, lift the phone, and begin dialing.

_Will Jeri be home?_ she wondered as she listened to the sound of ringing. It was likely, unless she was already on her way to Hypnos to see what she could find out, which was also a possibility. Even though Jeri was no longer a Tamer, she and her friends made it a point to continue to involve her in the day-to-day Tamer business. Her moving away to be in the same district as Ryo complicated things, but not as much as everyone was afraid it would.

Miki waited patiently as the ringing continued until finally someone picked up.

_"Hello?"_ Miki bit her lip. It wasn't Jeri.

"Hi, Mrs. Katou. This is Miki. Is Jeri there?"

_"Hello Miki. Yes, Jeri's here. I'll get her for…oh! Here she is now."_

There was a brief pause as the phone was switched between users, and within short order, Jeri's voice came on.

_"Miki? I've been watching the news. Is everyone all right?"_

"Yeah. Everyone's all right. Well…Ryo's been hurt, but he'll be fine. The doctor's say it's nothing serious."

_At least not so serious because he's healing quicker than most people,_ noted Miki, but for the sake of her friend she kept that to herself. She didn't want Jeri to worry more than she had to.

_"Thank goodness,"_ she breathed. _"I've been so worried. Can you tell me what happened? Where are you?"_

"We're in a hospital in Shinjuku." Miki giggled. "Takato's 'usual' place. I'm starting to think the doctors should be charging us rent."

_"Miki!"_

"Sorry. I guess Ryo's had a bit of an effect on me. He was joking too you know, even though he's hurt."

_"Ryo's really all right?"_

Miki paused, cradling the phone in her hands. "Well…the doctors don't know for sure when he'll be able to get out, but it should be soon. He's tough."

_"Mmm…"_

There was some silence between them for a moment.

_"I'm going to try and get down there. My parents didn't want me to go, but now that I know where you all are, I'm sure I can get out of here."_

Miki nodded her head, smiling slightly. "Everyone'll be waiting for you. I'll let them know. Anyway, I've got to go now. I'm using a payphone, so I can't keep talking for very long."

_"All right. Thank you. I'll see you as soon as I can."_

"Yeah. See you then."

There was a click on the other end as Jeri hung up. Miki cradled the phone for a moment before placing it on the receiver. She pressed her lips together, an uncertain feeling flowing through her. Shaking her head, she stood there for a few moments, contemplating her emotions before heading back towards the rooms that held her friends.

She didn't notice the dark figure that materialized in a cloud of smoke above her, watching her with glowing yellow eyes.

**…**

Prometheus stood on a rooftop in front of the Hypnos towers, his hands on his hips while the wind played with his hair. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing a whirl of glowing flame patterns to climb up his arms before opening them again. The structure of Hypnos fell away, revealing the occupants as they went around their business. Narrowing his eyes, he zoomed in until he found a tank filled with liquid, containing a familiar looking, silver-furred kitsune. Urocyomon. There was someone in the room with him, causing Prometheus to scowl slightly.

_It's not as though their presence is keeping me from taking care of business, but I risk detection._ He flicked his hand open, and a blue fire flared in his palm. _Still, I need to act fast._ Closing his fist, he doused the flame. Tracing a circle in the air, light materialized, following his finger. A series of symbols etched themselves within the circle and hung there for a moment. Prometheus looked it over, contemplating his handiwork before finally shrugging. Placing his hand on the circle, the flow of flames moved across his arm in a faster pattern, and the circle disappeared in a flash of white light, shooting into Hypnos where Urocyomon lay. Prometheus waited a moment to see the results of his handiwork.

The person inside the room didn't react. No one that passed by did. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Lines of code filled his mind.

_I slipped through their detection grid. Good._

"All right Urocyomon," he said. "That should tidy you over until I can get you a more long-term solution…or until I return your flame to you. Whichever comes first. For now, I have a job to keep track of."

Prometheus turned away.

"Primary documentation file," he intoned. "Subject: Tamer, Suzie Wong has held back from killing Atsuo, her primary tormentor despite dark digivolving and being infected by Daemon's _Dark Spreader _technique. So far, my theory is holding." He paused. "However, it should be noted that emotions like jealousy are far more dangerous. Subject two will need extra watching. Great care will be needed to ensure that she does not go out of control when it comes time for merging. At present, four of the necessary targets required for the merging are available with one on the move. Will continue to locate and press all available targets. End documentation."

Prometheus raised his hands and cracked his knuckles. "All right, Miki. Suzie has shown me what little girls are made of. Now how about you show me what _you_ are made of."

With that, Prometheus vanished into thin air.

* * *

A/N: This chapter and the next few are basically recovery for the Tamers and Hypnos as they regroup and reorganize, but this is hardly all that they're going to be dealing with. In the next chapter we'll be seeing Yamaki's reaction and another set of complications that have come up as a result of the conclusion to the battle with Daemon Super Ultimate We'll see some tidbits with Dark Takato get touched on, but for now the story will largely return the focus on the real world and the events going on in it.

Until next chapter. :P

-Crazyeight

* * *

8


	8. Shadows of Things to Come

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 8/ Shadows of Things to Come

"Come on, Guardromon!" yelled Kazu over his shoulder as he raced on ahead. "Move your steel-plated butt already!"

"Coming Kazu," the rust-colored android replied in an exhausted tone as he lumbered behind his partner. The brunette cast a regretful look at the Champion. It was obvious that he was doing his best to keep up, but the damage that he took last night was very definitely slowing him down. It was only just a short while ago that he had managed to recover enough to get to his feet. Unfortunately, flying was out of the question. As a matter of fact, a _lot_ of things were out of the question, all of which had slowed them down seriously.

"You want me to try a Healing card, pal?" asked Kazu, pausing for a moment. "What about stamina?"

"I'll be fine, Kazu," Guardromon replied, though it was pretty clear from Kazu's point of view that his best digimon friend was _far_ from fine. Metal creaked as Guardromon's limbs shook unsteadily. Electrical sparks danced along his body. Kazu grimaced.

_At least they aren't as bad as they were last night. Man, where's Kenta and MarineAngemon when you need them?_

"Well, let's see if this thing is working any better now." Kazu dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his deck of cards. Guardromon looked at him with trepidation.

"Um…perhaps we should wait until we get to Hypnos before we try digi-modifying again. After all, seeing as how the city is still standing, I would imagine that there's no reason to hurry."

Kazu paused, remembering what happened the last time he tried to help his partner, and a moment later, he placed his deck back into his pocket.

"Yeah. What was that line that Izzy said in the show? Doofus' run in when Angemon are afraid?"

"I believe the correct quote was 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread.'"

"Same difference. It's practically word for word anyway."

"A pity that you cannot apply your memory to your school work…"

"Guardromon…this is _not_ the time." Kazu scowled and turned towards the area of the park ahead of them. A plume of smoke rose up in the distance. "Well, at least we don't have to look very far to find the trouble. What I want to know is why no one tried to call us? What good are our cell phones if no one uses them?"  
"I believe it has something to do with the massive electromagnetic pulse from last night."

"Eh?" Kazu looked over his shoulder, surprised. "Hey, you were unconscious then. How could you tell?"

"I am picking up residual traces of it in the air." Guardromon frowned. "Most curious. It appears as though there were multiple blasts. It is as if someone tried to use it as a weapon."

"I don't even get what it is you're talking about," grumbled Kazu. "All I know is, we've got to track down our friends and see if they're all right." He scowled down at his digivice. "Maybe we should chance using this thing again…"

"I would advise against it, Kazu. We've already been delayed enough."

Kazu shook his head in exasperation. "Man… How come nothing is working out for me?"

"What did you say, Kazu?"

"Nothin' Guardromon. C'mon. We'd better get a move on."

Guardromon scratched the side of his head in imitation of humans when they are confused before following after his partner. The two of them made their way through the park as quickly as they could, however, Guardromon's severe lack of energy continuously slowed them down.

"My apologies, Kazu," said Guardromon as he leaned against a nearby tree. In response to his great weight, the tree snapped in two, nearly causing the android to tumble over in surprise.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Kazu, hearing the noise. "Guardromon! Are you okay?"

"Bless my bolts." Guardromon looked down sorrowfully at the poor, mangled tree that now lay on the ground. "I'll be fine momentarily. I just…need a second to rest."

Kazu pressed his lips together and nodded. "Take it easy buddy. Like you said, the city's still here, so I'm pretty sure that the others won. Let me know when you want to get going again."

"Indubitably, sir Kazu."

"Nnngh…knock it off, lug brain." Reaching out, Kazu banged his fist on Guardromon's dome-shaped head lightly. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he walked off a ways, trying hard not to beat himself up over the events of last night. Leaning against a tree, and having more luck with than his otherwise metal-heavy partner, he closed his eyes. Memories from last night played through his mind like a bad movie. There wasn't too much to say about it, which was precisely what bothered Kazu. It wasn't a matter of him screwing up, it was the fact that he had been completely and utterly helpless to do anything to help his partner.

Kazu pulled his hands into tight fists and, after pulling one of them out of his pockets, banged it against the tree in frustration.

_Sometimes, it sucks just being the supportive partner in all this. _Although he knew it in the back of his mind, he had never quite grasped how much he relied on Guardromon to help him fight battles and rescue his friends. And that wasn't the worst of it either. He was supposed to support his partner, but he didn't know enough to help him get out of the bind he had been in. Whatever it was.

_Electromagnetic pulse,_ he mused. _Doesn't that mess up electronics or something?_ Kazu glanced down at his digivice again, a thoughtful look on his face. _I wonder if that's why this thing is so messed up now._

In the past, Kazu would have been tempted to smack the piece of technology on something, preferably hard, in order to get it to work. It's worked as often as not (more often than it should have from Rika's perspective). However, the days when he thought less about his actions were gone, and he tried to do more than just react. He didn't always succeed, but every so often he had his moments.

Kazu pressed the button on his digivice, and a crackling sound emerged from it. Kazu was no less comforted by this than he was the first time around. He glanced at Guardromon tentatively before returning his attention to the digivice.

_I can't use cards,_ he mused. _At least, not without them hurting him. _Kazu paused on that thought, pondering it for a moment. _Wonder if that means we're still partners. Only instead of my cards helping him, they're hurting him._

It wasn't a bad thought, he supposed, but it wasn't a good thought either as he had no proof one way or the other.

_Let's face facts, Kazu. Our best bet is to get to Hypnos and see what the deal is. They might know what's going on and how to fix thi… Whoa! What the…?_

Kazu's eyes widened as the screen changed abruptly. The static that filled it disappeared, replaced by a progress bar and some words above it.

_Reboot in progress,_ it read._ 80% complete._

Kazu allowed a relieved smile to cross his face. _Looks like we'll be over at Hypnos sooner than we thought._

A loud snap, followed by a series of voices speaking loudly broke Kazu out of his thoughts. Pushing himself off a tree, he dropped himself into a defensive stance.

"Kazu?" began Guardromon, his voice weary.

"Just a second, buddy. Hey! Is somebody out there?"

"…hold on a second, sir," came a voice from some brush. It sounded a ways off. Footsteps began to move in Kazu's direction until, finally, a dark haired man wearing the signature black suit of the government appeared.

"Ah." The man nodded towards the boy and thumbed the wire in his ear. "Sir. I've located a Tamer—Kazu Shiota. He and his partner both appear all right. Request instructions." The man hesitated for a second before moving towards Kazu. "Mr. Shiota," the man greeted. "I'm from Hypnos. We're currently locking down this area, but your presence is required at Hypnos. Can your partner…?"

"We're getting' there," grinned Kazu, looking at his digivice. The progress bar now read 95 percent. "We just need a few seconds to cool our jets. That won't be a problem will it?"

"It shouldn't be," replied the agent, shaking his head. "You're far enough away from the phenomenon where it shouldn't be a problem."

Kazu raised an eyebrow at that. "Phenom-whatsis now?" he asked while his partner, standing up, added the more grammatically correct version of the question.

**…**

"It's quite the pickle," said the Monster Maker, Dolphin as he calmly munched on a piece of Pocky. "I mean, on one hand it's pretty obvious what it is—a digital representation of landscape laid over the landscape as a way of concealing property damage—but I can't tell you who did it or why they did it. Besides the obvious."

"Hmmm…" Yamaki scowled. "Is there a signature that we can use to trace?"

"We've only begun to analyze the landscape, so I'm afraid that's not something I can tell you. It's not as though we have this sort of thing categorized you know. Despite three years and Urocyomon's assistance—backed by the Arc II—we've only managed to map a small portion of the digital world, and even then, only a couple levels, both the surface and the immediate level underneath it, were really looked at. The Arc II's ability to scan into the layers of the digital world is limited, and Urocyomon's only one digimon, even with his unique abilities."

Dolphin frowned and shook his head.

"I don't think any of the civilizations he's shown us so far could have done this anyway. Maybe a digignome is in the real world, or maybe it's one of those greater nations that Urocyomon's told us about. The Olympus Twelve for example."

Yamaki flicked his lighter open and closed thoughtfully as he looked up at the screen he and Dolphin were working on. A Tracer launched into the digital network was sending them the information from the site that his agents had stumbled upon after Henry had informed him about Noriko being unconscious in the park. At the thought of the girl, his lighter clicked closed with a loud snap.

_The parents of the Tamers should be at the hospital now._

The thought did not put him at ease.

"All right," said Yamaki finally. "Put this aside for now, but keep an eye on it. Any word on our systems?"

"Before I got called away to work on this, Tao told me that we've reestablished all of our firewalls and primary defense systems. I don't know what else has been fixed in the meantime except for what looks to be the scanners and the main network. We're experiencing quite a bit of lag time though."

"Shibumi's working on that," nodded Yamaki. Dolphin looked at the man for a moment before speaking again.

"I just got word from my granddaughter, Alice. She says Kuzuhamon is on her way."

"Good. Hopefully she can tell us what's going on with Urocyomon." Yamaki clicked his lighter open, held it there for a moment, and then clicked it closed. "All right. For now, return to your original assignment. I'll detail whoever's available to take a look on this until things are cleared up."

"All right, Mr. Yamaki."

**…**

Yamaki sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose as he made his way down the hall. Exhaustion pained his skull, but the coffee that he had drank half an hour ago still kept him moving. Right now, he felt, it was probably the only thing that was keeping him moving.

_Getting too old for this,_ he thought. He quickly dismissed the thought and ran through a mental checklist of the things he needed to take a look at or help take care of. _I still need to get in touch with Ms. Yoshikawa. I was supposed to contact her yesterday, and I haven't had the time for that…_

Needless to say, forty-eight hours of dealing with one crisis after another had left him feeling a little ragged. He didn't need to look in a mirror to know that his normally perfect exterior, drilled into him from a lifetime of service to his government, was now marred by a small amount of beard stubble growing on his face.

It was most…how could he say it? Disconcerting? Well, at any rate, he was disorderly, and it left him feeling a bit unsettled.

Order and control were very important things in his life. They defined him and gave him a feeling of strength to draw from when everyone else was drowning in chaos. It had been that outlook on his life that had turned him against the digital world initially. It was not so anymore, but that did not change the fact that he didn't like small bits of disorder in his life, no matter how trifling it may be.

Unconsciously adjusting his tie, he entered his office and sat down behind his desk, taking great pains to not appear as though he were collapsing into it. He took off his sunglasses and pressed his hand against his eyes, massaging them gently. He sat there for a moment, relishing in the brief break he found himself before replacing his sunglasses on his face and pressing a button on his desk. A video screen at the front of his office lowered and lit up as the office lights turned off. On the screen, a still image of a woman with light brown hair wearing a smart-looking business suit appeared.

_"Yoshikawa,"_ the woman greeted. _"Oh. Mr. Yamaki."_

"Ms. Yoshikawa," nodded Yamaki in a business-like tone. "I'm sorry to be contacting you at this late date…"

_"No need to worry, Mr. Yamaki. Your troubles have been all over the news. I'm currently staying at a hotel. I realize that you're busy, given the situation, but if I would still like to meet with you in person. However, it looks like the roads leading to Hypnos are all blocked off…"_

"I'll send someone to get you," replied Yamaki. "I'm afraid that your visit will have to be brief. Hypnos needs everyone available right now."

_"Don't worry,"_ said Yoshikawa. _"How is our candidate holding up?"_

"Efficiently." Yamaki frowned. "But, this may not be a good time for this."

_"When is it ever? There's always one thing after another happening in the digital world. A little pressure won't hurt Ms. Ootori. As long as she makes the cut, she's in and you won't have to worry about anyone crying favoritism and replacing her with someone else. I've seen the other candidates. None of them are as qualified. They aren't familiar with the technology, and they don't know the Tamers either. Given what happened with Argus, those are both negatives that we could do without."_

Yamaki realized he was drumming one finger on his desk, and he stilled it immediately.

"Understood. I'll have someone connect to you, and you can give them your address."

After doing so, Yamaki hung up and again massaged his eyes.

_Time for another cup of coffee,_ he thought. He glanced out the window, wincing reflexively at the scene of devastation that greeted him. It merely served to remind him of but another problem that had now been placed on his door for him to take care of.

There was a soft knock on his door. Yamaki turned to find the crimson-haired Riley standing at attention, looking equally exhausted as he was, but still alert and ready to perform her duty.

"Riley."

"Sir. Shibumi reports that the last of the systems is up and running. The network will be a little fragile, but he thinks he can get us back to normal by the end of tomorrow at the latest."

"Very well. Any news on the Tamers or their partners?"

"Only that Suzie Wong, Lopmon, and Noriko Nakata haven't regained consciousness. Lumemon still hasn't been located though, but the rest are doing fine. Also, the child civilian that was found—Atsuo Yamaguchi—also seems to be doing okay, but he hasn't regained consciousness yet either." Riley frowned slightly. "It's a bit strange that he managed to get so close to the fighting without so much as a scratch."

"Given how many times we've seen the Tamers do so, it doesn't surprise me anymore. But I am worried. Janyu tells me that this…Atsuo is responsible for antagonizing his daughter, the same Suzie Wong who had lost control in the middle of the fight. I'd like for you to review any and all video-logs of the battle. We'll need to prevent anything damaging from escaping into the public sphere. The Tamer program can't afford such things right now."

"I understand, sir." Riley, for some reason, felt strangely relieved that she wasn't being detailed with the majority of the cleanup and managing work as she had been thus far. Handling the spread of information felt more in line with what her job entailed. "Will that be all, sir?"

"For now, yes." Yamaki leaned forward and again massaged his eyes, repressing a groan. Riley gave him a sympathetic look while simultaneously remising her return to her job description.

"I think you should go home and get some rest, sir," she told him. "I can handle things for you from here. I've had more sleep than you."

Yamaki gave her a rough smile and replaced his shades on his face. "Thank you, Riley, but I'll manage until things calm down."

A tiny smirk drew across Riley's face. "That…could take a while sir."

Yamaki's smile dropped off his face. He did not find that amusing one bit. Riley caught his expression and inclined her head slightly.

"I'll get to work on those video logs, sir."

Yamaki was about nod to her in agreement when there followed a loud explosion just outside. Getting out of his chair, he spun towards the window to survey whatever situation had suddenly and unexpected come up. A second and one bit-back curse later, Yamaki was pulling out his cell-phone and dialing a number.

**…**

"Ooog…"

With what was decidedly more effort than he could ever remember using for waking up, even on his worst days, Impmon cracked an eye open, only to find it staring at nothing but dark ground. Deciding that the other would yield more positive results, Impmon repeated the act and this time found a more brightly lit alleyway and an eerily quiet, but heavily broken street just outside of it. Sitting up, Impmon rubbed the back of his head, trying his best to ignore the aches and pains that throbbed all over his body.

_Okay. Where am I?_ he wondered, glancing around him with a decidedly annoyed expression. _Did I get into a fight? The last thing I remember is…is…_

**…**

_ The face of a dark-haired man, placing his hand on Beelzemon's face. A soft glow enveloped him, followed by a sense of warmth spreading through his body. Beelzemon tried to fight against it, but the warmth caused him to go limp before he could even do anything. The whole world was going dark… Had gone dark. He…_

**…**

_…is what I had for dinner?_ Impmon blinked hard and pressed his gloved hand onto his chin, thinking hard._ That's weird. I don't remember raiding Ai and Mako's parents' sake again. As much as I liked that stuff, I learned my lesson when Ayaka and glasses boy had to pull me over for speeding. "Only in moderation, and _no_ digivolving immediately afterward!"_

Impmon shook his head. Something was weird with his memory. He didn't even know how much time had passed, except that it was day when the last thing he remembered was that it had been night instead. The giant crater on the ground didn't help things either. Impmon felt a pang of fear in his chest.

_Don't tell me I did somethin' stupid again… Nah. Couldn't have. I learn from my mistakes. All I need to do is just go home and see my partners. Make sure that they're all right, and then see if the Tamers are okay. Okay. And a one, and a two, and a—_ "Ba-boom!"

Impmon rocketed off the ground and landed on a nearby rooftop. He quickly swiveled his head around to get a fix on the direction he needed to take, only to pause when he saw the smoke rising from the direction of the Hypnos towers. Impmon's mouth fell open.

Clearly, _very _clearly, something had happened while he had been out. He stood there for a moment, torn between checking out the scene and going to make sure that his partners were all right. After a short, but very bitter battle, he shot off, heading towards Hypnos, bouncing off rooftop to rooftop. As he did so, a bright glow surrounded his body, and he grew in size. Two, black-feathered wings burst free from his back and he took to the air, flying the rest of the way. A large cannon formed around his right arm, and violet energy crackled around its tips. Beelzemon narrowed all three of his eyes as he drew closer. There didn't seem to be any fighting going on. The city seemed quiet, but that did nothing to put him at ease. He had seen the city 'empty' and 'quiet' even when the D-Reaper had invaded. If anything, he felt, when things were quiet, that was when he felt it was important to worry.

Beelzemon was interrupted as a stream of blue energy shot by him, narrowly missing the bandana tied around his arm. Quite unexpectedly, electricity sparked at the edges of the cloth, and the bandana blurred slightly before returning to normal. Swearing loudly, Beelzemon spun in the sky, searching for the source of the attack. There were a number of small dots on the ground and some excited shouting.

_People?_ He narrowed his third eye to get a better look. The dots were soldiers to be more precise. And some of them were carrying an unusual-looking weapon.

Another blast of blue energy emanating from the weapon surged upwards, and Beelzemon deftly dodged to the side.

"Hey!" he bellowed loudly. "What's the big deal?"

Two more blasts of energy, both threatening to catch him in a pincer, shot up towards him. Beelzemon dodged again, growling angrily under his breath. They were definitely trying to shoot at him. Why? Didn't they know he was on their side?

_Sure doesn't seem like it,_ he thought as a blast narrowly missed him again. He dismissed his Death-Slinger cannon, not trusting himself to use it properly while being attacked. Beelzemon hated being attacked without justification.

No sooner than he did so, his third-eye caught sight of a Tank approaching the soldiers. It swiveled a gun-like attachment sitting just above its main-cannon and took aim. A second later a wave of blue energy washed the air where Beelzemon flew, leaving him with no place to dodge. Beelzemon howled as electricity ran the length of his body, causing data to fly off his body in small shards. The pain was unbearable. Instinct took over, and a yellow ring with a crown-like pattern in its center materialized upon his chest. His eyes took on a crimson hue and he summoned his Death Slinger cannon. Fighting through the pain, he took aim…and fired.

**"Corona Blaster!"**

The shot hit the tank, causing its energy cannon to explode. The soldiers around it scattered, firing streams of blue lightning in Beelzemon's direction, but now he could maneuver freely again. The yellow ring glowed fiercely upon his chest and with a snarl, he swiveled around, seeking new targets.

The Demon Lord had awakened.

**…**

"Cease fire!" shouted Yamaki into the phone. "That digimon is on _our_ side! I said…_cease fire!"_

_ "It's no good, Mr. Yamaki!"_ came the panicked response on the other end of the phone. _"He's going wild! He keeps shooting at us! We'll have to take him down! We'll set our weapons for a lower intensity, but since he's a Mega…"_

"Do not…I repeat, do _not_ continue to engage him. Fall back. As long as you do not attack, you should be all right."

There followed a couple more thuds of explosions before all went silent. Worried, Yamaki's eyes traced outside, quickly finding the Demon Lord known as Beelzemon, hovering in midair while glaring down at the streets below. No more shots went up after him. Yamaki adjusted his cell phone and swallowed carefully, half-afraid of what he might hear.

"Are you still there?"

_"Y-Yes Mr. Yamaki. We've got men down out here, but it looks like you were right so far. He's stopped attacking us as soon as we ceased fire."_

"All right. Do nothing to provoke him. I'm going to get out there and talk to him."

With that, Yamaki hung up his cell phone and turned towards Riley.

"Get me Tally."

**…**

Beelzemon breathed heavily as below him, the smoke began to recede, save for the ones that billowed up from the tank that was on fire. He smirked triumphantly. The humans were in retreat now…had _run away._ Not that it mattered. They were hardly a threat anyway. The yellow ring on his chest pulsed prominently. No, the humans weren't a threat. As a matter of fact, they were no good. He needed a _good_ fight. Winning like this wasn't much good unless it was against digimon, as he could load them. He needed…

_"Beelzemon…"_

_ Huh?_

Beelzemon snapped out of his reverie and the yellow ring disappeared from his chest. Spinning around, he looked around him, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Hey… Who's there?" he asked

_"It's Yamaki. Beelzemon. I'm contacting you via the Hypnos network directing its signal towards your location. Stand down. You're attacking human soldiers. Apparently they thought you were an incoming enemy and opened fire on you."_

"I…did?" Beelzemon's memory of the past few seconds felt strangely…odd—_fuzzy—_for some reason, but a moment later, it became clear. "Oh…yeah. Hey, I'm going to be expecting an apology from these bozos for that."

_"Later, Beelzemon. For now, I suggest that you come inside. Land on the rooftop and we'll discuss things from there."_

"Phht! Like I need to be told to do that," grumbled Beelzemon, turning in the direction of Hypnos' roof. He took a look down at the flaming tank below, and flapped his wings, heading downwards. "Actually…hold that thought. I've got some rescuin' to do."

* * *

* * *

A/N: Haven't done a Saturday update in a while. Many apologies for not updating in so long. I've been sick this week, and only recently started to feel better…or at least well enough to do things like go to work and write. Hopefully this hasn't hurt the quality of the chapter, but considering how stuffed my head has been lately (never mind what a fever does for concentration) I fear the opposite may be the case. All critique is welcome so that I can get back up to speed, especially in regards to previously established information.

Speaking of which, this chapter brings back some things from the last book that haven't been touched on in a while, namely Noriko, who was last seen unconscious, the bizarre digital ground that was used to cover up the fight Lumemon had with the Knighthood, and Beelzemon, who, like Noriko, was last seen unconscious after a grueling (and mostly off-screen) battle with Maelstrom. Also Atsuo, though he has yet to have a scene so far. Looking over my notes, he is going to be a fairly difficult part of the sub plot to manage. His mentioning in this chapter has gone through a couple revisions based on how much freedom of movement I think is necessary for him. I still need to iron out the wrinkles for his part in the plot, but I think I've mostly got it handled.

Until next chapter (hopefully less long in coming). :P

-Crazyeight

* * *

8


	9. Shadows beneath the Sun

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 9/Shadows beneath the Sun

"_So…when do we begin?"_

The memory of Metusmon's words rang in Norn's mind as she oversaw the giant spire that towered over the desert. Only 'spire' wasn't exactly the word for it.

From a distance, it resembled the black obelisks that had once peppered the landscape of the Eastern Quadrant, all built by, if Norn's information served her, a human individual calling himself the 'Digimon Emperor'. But once one got close enough, the resemblance to that particular madman's attempt at self-gratification ended there. It certainly stabbed into the sky, and the way light fell upon it caused it to become enshrouded in shadows, but again, distance determined what one perceived the tower to be.

For those who hailed from the Eastern Quadrant, the resemblance was enough to call up unpleasant memories of slavery and beastly torture. But to those of the Southern Quadrant, it marked a small sector of territory that was best avoided, which was the second, and last similarity that the two constructs shared.

No, this was no engineering of hubris—of pride. Far from it in fact, it was the exact opposite in every way that counted. It was a safe haven, but only to those that lived there. For all else, entering the territory belonging to this tower was certain death. Certain enough to count as suicide to all but the most powerful or stealthy.

Norn's eyes tracked the area around the tower, spying a small dot with buzzing wings descending upon the tower—a rocky, dirt construction—and disappeared within a carved out hole. She narrowed her eyes and they glowed slightly, replaying the image in her mind and enhancing it.

_A Kabuterimon…_ she thought as the glow in her eyes vanished.

A shadow fell upon Norn's back and she turned to see her two warriors, LoadKnightmon and RhodoKnightmon, standing at attention. RhodoKnightmon nodded to her while LoadKnightmon fingered the scars on his helm.

"This is it," Norn said to them. "We have arrived at the Hive."

"I am detecting multiple Champions and Rookies in the area," said RhodoKnightmon in response. There are a few Ultimates in the vicinity, and at least three Megas. No doubt they make up the Royalty."

"We're not here for them," said Norn. "Just their infected."

_"And nothing else?"_ came a cool voice that sent a chill down Norn's voice. The digital goddess didn't react any further than that, though she heard her Knighthood quickly adopting defensive stances. A quick gesture was enough to silence them however.

"Something on your mind, Metusmon?" she asked. "I thought I told you to wait at the cave."

A low chuckle whispered into Norn's ears as cold air crawled across her bare skin. Norn swallowed slightly as she saw wisps of mist moving about her body before withdrawing.

_"Just thinking. This whole region is a place of old human data that is decaying—fossilizing—into the digital world. The data may be old, but it's still there. It might still be useful, just like all the junk that went into that 'trash heap' you call the Village of Discarded Data."_

"There is nothing here that would be of help to us," said Norn firmly, pulling her hands into tight fists.

_"Of course you would say that. And with the Hive there, there's no real reason to go investigating. After all, it's not like the Knighthood could take on all those insect digimon and live."_

"That's enough out of you," growled RhodoKnightmon, lashing out with her sash blades. Norn turned just in time to see a shadowy form disappear from behind her, and her knight's weapons stopped just inches away from her eyes. Norn looked at RhodoKnightmon and she retracted her sash blades, looking rather abashed at her reaction, even though her helm obscured her face.

"How sharper is the serpent's tooth," mused Norn, glancing around her for any sign of the shadowy digimon. "Even as Lucemon, you were never like this."

_"I was never like this to begin with. But we have you and Prometheus to thank for that, don't we?"_

Norn grimaced, hearing the blame in the angel's voice.

"I can only promise to restore you to your form, whichever one you prefer, after this is all over."

_"We'll see."_ A pair of red eyes appeared in midair and a pale, gray-skinned figure with black wings and swirling black tattoos phased into being off to Norn's right. "So now that we're here, what do you intend to do? You said we only needed their 'infected'…"

Norn nodded and returned her attention to the Hive tower.

"The Sin code, unfortunately, does not distinguish between anyone, and requires no actual physical contact to spread, though it is possible for that to occur as well. Primarily though, it appears through breaks between the barriers of the worlds, namely this one and the Dark Area and seeks out an individual that is close to what it desires. There it takes root and…feasts."

"One could say that it is of similar substance as the Dark Spore that was recorded in the Eastern Quadrant following the battles Ryo had with Milleniummon," supplied RhodoKnightmon, folding her arms over her chest. "Everything in that world is polluted, and it only serves to do more. The plants, the water…the very air you breath…_everything_ is poisonous. Some master it. Others become consumed by it. But all are soiled in some manner and are never the same. Even those who end up there with good intentions in their hearts."

"I know well what happens in the Dark Area, knight," replied Metusmon in a bored tone. "I went there myself, and was imprisoned within a variation of it, living with my own darkness. I don't need a science lecture."

RhodoKnightmon glared at Metusmon angrily and her ribbons flexed dangerously.

"Remember, young one, that your power has diminished since you ceased to be Lucemon. I can still load your data any time I wish."

Metusmon simply stared at RhodoKnightmon with an impassive expression.

"You can try," he replied calmly.

"Enough," snapped Norn, becoming annoyed with their bickering. "The time is almost here. The Hive will not be content to simply allow their infected to live when they pose a threat to their greater whole. Knighthood. In position, now!

At her command, RhodoKnightmon and LoadKnightmon both took a step forward, their ribbons quivering in anticipation. At the base of the tower, a small hole appeared and a massive MegaKabuterimon, flanked by several Kabuterimon and Kuwagamon appeared. The massive red beetle snarled and snapped at his fellow insect digimon and electricity sparked around his horn. However, an unseen strike from behind quickly put the Ultimate on the ground, revealing a humanoid, golden-armored figure.

_Interesting,_ noted Norn. _A MetallifeKuwagamon._

The MegaKabuterimon strove to rise back to its feet, a glowing yellow-colored ring appearing on its shell. Spinning, it stabbed its horn into an unfortunate Kabuterimon, shattering its form with a blast of electricity. The insects data flowed freely for a second before being rapidly drawn into its much larger cousin, whereupon it began to grow larger. Spikes sprouted from its shoulders and its jaws took on a significantly more predatory look with cruel fangs jutting out from them, glistening with poisonous venom. As Norn watched, the Ultimate's shell shifted from a red color to a dark-blue, almost purple color.

The yellow glow from the ring on its back increased in intensity as it struck out, smashing its horn into the MetallifeKuwagamon, who now struggled to keep it from destroying the base of the tower.

"Knighthood," began Norn in a low tone. "Take him."

The Knighthood burst into the air, ready to do their bidding.

**…**

Slowly, ever so slowly, Suzie Wong cracked her eyes open. White ceiling tile greeted her vision and she let out a sigh of disappointment.

_How boring…_

"Suzie?" The worried face of her mother, Mayumi, cut across the ceiling, causing Suzie to blink in surprise. She placed a comforting hand on her daughter's forehead and looked around her. "Henry, Rinchei, Jaarin. Suzie's awake."

"Wha…what's going on?" asked Suzie, sitting up in her bed as her family, minus her father, crowded around her. "Why am I…?" Frowning, she looked around her. "I'm in a hospital?"

"We were all fighting against Daemon," said Henry, placing a concerned hand on his little sister's. "Remember?"

Terriermon, who was sitting on the teen's shoulder, glanced at him with a sarcastically raised eyebrow.

"How would you know, Henry? We were _both_ unconscious at the time."

Henry glared at his partner. "Terriermon. Takato told us after he heard about it from Miki, who _was_ awake for it…"

"I'm just poking fun at you. Sheesh, Henry. Momentai already."

"Daemon?" Suzie shook her head, feeling more than a bit confused. Her memories felt like a jumbled mess. Nothing was making sense to her. Closing her eyes, she thought hard on the last thing she could clearly remember.

**…**

_At that moment, Antylamon lunged forward, hands transforming into giant, double-bladed axes. The weapons swung outwards in wide, sweeping, upward arcs that sliced through the air towards Daemon. The Demon Lord deftly stepped into her attack and ducked down, dodging both blades and her massive arms before counterattacking by smashing his right hands claws into her stomach._

_Antylamon gagged as the breath immediately left her body from the force of the impact, and behind her Suzie's hands went to her stomach as she felt the same thing happen to her. Her legs trembled and white sparks flew across her vision, but she held firm._

_"H-Hang on…An-Antlya…mon…" she gasped, quickly scrabbling for her digivice and cards._Oh man… I…I can't breathe. Antylamon! H-Hang on…

**…**

"Ah!" Suzie gasped, her eyes widening in horror. "Lopmon! Is she…?"

"Don't worry, Suzie," eased Jaarin, reaching out and massaging Suzie's hair, now loosed from their traditional hair ties. "She's fine. She's just at Hypnos being looked at right now."

"Yeah," chimed in Terriermon. "Word is, she got roughed up by Daemon pretty bad and not only that, she dark digi…"

"Terriermon!" Henry snapped, causing the long-eared digimon to shut his mouth.

"Sorry."

"I heard what you said," glowered Suzie. Her fingers curled together tightly and her nails bit into her palms. "And…I know what I did." She closed her eyes, remembering the desperation that she felt in the battle.

**…**

_"A-Antylamon…?"_

_Nothing came from the Ultimate level rabbit Deva as her body blurred. She was dying! Suzie could feel it. __Dying!__ And there was nothing she could do! All because she wasn't strong enough to help her partner when she needed her the most!_

What was I thinking?_ The thought hammered home as Suzie caressed her partner's soft fur. A sob hitched itself in her throat and tears threatened to spill forth from her eyes. She held them back though, not wanting to lose sight of her partner before she…before she…_

_Suzie gasped as her hand went through Antylamon's slowly fading form. Sparkles of white light began to rise from her unmoving form. She became transparent—ghost-like in appearance._

_"No…" Suzie whispered in denial, clutching her digivice tightly in one hand. "No…"_

_She balled her free hand tightly into one fist as tears began to flow down her face, no longer encountering resistance. "No! You __can't__ leave me! Antylamon! You can't go! I…__I won't let you go! Lopmon!"_

_Light burst free from Suzie's digivice, engulfing Antylamon. Her eyes shot open as energy suddenly surged through her, causing words to involuntarily come to her mouth._

_**"Antylamon! Digivolve tooo…"**_

**…**

"Suzie…" began Henry, seeing the look on his little sister's face. Scowling, Terriermon hopped down off his partner's shoulder and landed on the bed with Suzie, placing his little hands firmly on his hips and waving his ears agitatedly so as to get her attention.

"Hey, you listen to me, Suzie, 'cause I'm going to tell you what Henry, Lopmon, and the others would say if they were here. Only better because I'm me, and they're not. _You_ are _not_ to blame for what happened. Seriously, don't be like Takato because he blames himself for everything. And I _mean _everything. With what was going on there…Antylamon was in a tight spot, and everyone was getting their butts pasted. You wanted to keep Lopmon safe right? You did it. You saved her. So why sweat about the details?"

Henry grimaced slightly. He could understand Terriermon's reasoning, but he wondered if he was just fooling himself with what he was saying. Takato's experiences with dark-digivolving, and their own experience with the matter as well—_twice_ now!—was not something that could be taken lightly, no matter what the situation.

_Mainly because of the scars it leaves,_ he thought. _Takato was lucky. He wanted to protect everyone because he knew if he didn't, Beelzemon would kill everyone. He used that to push past everything that could have pulled him down. And he came very close to staying down._

Henry remembered the pivotal battle in the digital world. Megidramon was down, his chest all but crushed beneath the furious strength that Beelzemon had laid into him with. And during the pause in the battle, Takato had gone over to his beaten partner and slumped down next to him, becoming paralyzed and blaming himself for not only the failure to protect anyone, but for lashing out the way he did and losing control.

If by some chance Takato and Guilmon survived Beelzemon's attack, but had not biomerged into the powerful and majestic Gallantmon, the two would have born inner scars that would have taken time to get over. Suzie had been given the same chance, but hadn't been able to follow it to the same conclusion.

Still, Henry could hardly fault Terriermon. The Rookie was initiating the healing process, and Suzie, he knew, would need that both as a person and as a Tamer. Lopmon would also need it if she were to recover as well. A Tamer and their partner were entwined tightly. Whatever happened to one, affected the other.

"I want to go see Lopmon," muttered Suzie, hugging her legs close to her chest. Mayumi pressed her lips together tightly and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, dear. But the doctors want you to stay here a little bit longer so they can make sure that you're okay. Lopmon will be all right, and I promise that you can see her later. Okay, honey?"

"Yeah. Don't worry," cheered Terriermon. "Ol' Henry and I are going down there now, so we'll be sure to take a look at her to make sure she's fine. We'll pass along your hellos too."

Shifting his left ear, Terriermon manipulated its tips until he was giving the young girl his equivalent to a 'thumbs up' and he winked. Suzie's expression remained troubled, but she nodded all the same.

"Okay," she said. This caused Terriermon to turn his head at her, a bit surprised by her response, but he quickly shrugged it off. Henry reached down and picked up his partner, setting him back on his shoulder.

"Well, we've got to get going now."

"Be careful, Henry," said Mayumi, giving her youngest son a concerned look. "The roads are pretty bad out there."

"Momentai," giggled Terriermon. "As long as he's got me, Henry's going to be a-okay."

Henry gave his mother what he hoped was a comforting smile, and after saying goodbye to everyone, he left the room.

As he padded down the halls, he breathed out a sigh.

"You can say that again," said Terriermon. Henry raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" asked Terriermon sardonically. "Henry, the atmosphere in that room is so thick you could make a meal out of it. Guilmon should have been in there. Heck, even _Calumon_ should have been there. They would have chewed up all that tension and…well, you get the idea. I'm done making dinner proposals and I'd rather not get into toilet humor right now."

"For once you actually show restraint," breathed Henry, a note of relief in his tone. Terriermon glowered at him.

"Hey! I have plenty of restraint. I just don't show it when I'm eating. Your mom's food is too good." He huffed in annoyance before continuing. "Anyway, did you see how Suzie didn't fight to go down to Hypnos to see Lopmon? That's not like her."  
Henry nodded. He did notice, but hadn't said anything.

"We'll have to keep a close eye on her and make sure that we help her."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I'll do what I can, even if I have to put on the Princess Pretty Pants costume myself." He glanced down at his stomach. "Do you think I need a diet to do that?"

"Do I think? Is that even a question?"

"I could delete all the files on your computer, you know…"

Henry sighed again. "Well, I'm just glad that everyone made it out all right."

"Almost everyone," reminded Terriermon. "Noriko's still out of it. At least, according to what your mom told us after getting done talking to your dad. I don't think that counts as 'all right'. And we still haven't heard a thing from Lumemon. Where's that angel guy when you need him? Sheesh. How irresponsible."

Henry furrowed his brow. "I wonder if there's some connection with what we found before Daemon showed up…"

"So many mysteries. Do you think we'll actually get some time to solve them?"

"We may have to rely on Hypnos for this one. We don't exactly have the equipment to go analyzing a digitized part of the park. Besides, we work for them now, so Yamaki will be sure to give us information."

"On a 'need-to-know' basis, I'm sure." Terriermon crossed his tiny arms across his chest. "I know government types. They don't like to tell you everything."

"No." Henry grinned slightly at his partner. "They just don't like to tell you everything because they know you'll either blow it out of proportion or tell the whole world."

"Hey! I resent that!" Terriermon feigned being insulted for a moment before his expression became more concerned. "Hey… Do you think Noriko's going to be okay?"

Henry's expression fell as he came to a stop outside Takato's room.

"I wish I knew," he replied. "But I can only hope that she is." With that, he knocked on the door.

"Really, Mom," Henry heard Takato complain from the other side. "I feel fine. I just got knocked around a little bit."

"A 'little bit'?" came the shocked reply of Mei Matsuki. "Takato, if there's _anything_ that I know, a 'little bit' always means 'a lot'…"

The door opened, revealing Takato's father, Takehiro, and the man smiled upon seeing him.

"Hey, Henry. Great to see that you're up and about. No rest for the weary, eh?" He tossed a glance over his shoulder meaningfully and Henry took a careful look. Takato was just coming out of the bathroom, having changed out of his hospital gown and into the dusty, battle-worn clothes that he had worn yesterday.

"No…I suppose not," remarked Henry as Takato grabbed his D-Arc from off the counter next to his bed and clipped it to his waist.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad! Gotta go! Fate of the world and stuff! C'mon Guilmon!"

"Bye Takato's Mom and Dad!"

"Mr. Matsuki!" exclaimed Takato's mother heatedly, you wait right there this _instant!"_

"Uh…" Henry backed away from the door as Takehiro stood aside and pulled it open, allowing his son to escape out of the room, and closing it quickly before his wife could follow. "Well, that was interesting…"

"Takato's Mom was worried about him again," supplied Guilmon as the four friends headed rather speedily down the hall. "I think she's afraid that he'll hurt himself or something."

"Well, you've gotta admit he has the habit," noted Terriermon. Henry couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Takato, maybe you should slow down before something happens…"

As though on cue, an old man in a wheel chair appeared from out of the corner and directly in Takato's path. The teen's eyes bugged out of his eyes as he realized with a sinking feeling that he was going to crash into him.

"Aw nuts…" he said aloud, unknowingly repeating the same words that were already going through Henry and Terriermon's minds.

To everyone's surprise however, Takato's body immediately began to twist and turn, avoiding the wheel chair bound man. It was far from a graceful thing, as his feet seemed to be on the verge of stumbling every step of the way, coming within inches of knocking into the man's foot or one of the wheels. Finally, after what felt like a terror-filled eternity, Takato staggered to a halt on the other side of the man, panting heavily while being glared at.

"Sorry," Takato breathed, clapping his hands together and bowing apologetically. "I am very, _very_ sorry…"

"You kids are in too much of a rush," the old man grumbled irritably as he maneuvered the chair around the turn, passing by Henry, Terriermon, and Guilmon without so much as a glance in their direction. Terriermon scowled at him, looking rather insulted.

"Boy, I don't know whether to feel annoyed that he wasn't surprised by us, or admire him for being so awesome."

"Just let it go," said Henry, shrugging the incident off. "Anyway, we'd better keep going—_without_ nearly giving everyone heart attacks and causing chaos."

"Sorry," blushed Takato, still embarrassed.

Henry chuckled and clapped his friend on the back.

"Well, on the bright side, your reflexes have gotten better."

"Uh, huh," nodded Guilmon as they moved on towards the elevators. "Before, you would have caused an accident and then we would have had a lot of hospital nurses yelling at us." Guilmon's ears wilted as though remembering a previous incident. "I hate it when they do that."

"Don't be such a baby," said Terriermon cheerfully. "That nurse made it up to you by giving you flowers and giving you a peck on the nose, didn't she?"

Takato and Henry both gave a laugh as they came to a stop in front of the elevators and pressed the call button.

**…**

Robert 'Dolphin' McCoy wiped at his glasses and leaned back in his chair, feeling thoroughly exhausted but at the same time utterly relieved. Quite unprofessionally, he let out a yawn and stretched slightly.

"What would Alice say if she saw you do that?" laughed a familiar voice with a slight accent.

"She would tell me that I earned it and to sit in my easy-chair and fetch me the latest science and technology magazine," Robert replied closing his eyes and folding his hands behind his head. "A man of my age deserves to have some rest you know."

Reopening his eyes, he turned around his chair to face Rai 'Curly' Aishuwarya, dressed in her a fluffy white sweater. She was carrying a mug of warm coffee.

"I suppose you do," she replied, smiling. Rob smiled back.

"You know, maybe it's because I'm getting older, but this job is a lot harder than Palo Alto."

"I thought you liked the challenge," Rai remarked, taking a sip from her mug. "That's why you stayed on, isn't it?"

"Well, it was to save the world and make sure it stayed safe," chuckled Rob. "Hypnos is where the action is, and there aren't many people around who know half of what I do—what we all do. Digimon, construction of Artificial Intelligence and the original algorithm that we used… It's not exactly something just anyone can use you know." Robert glanced at Rai and grinned. "Besides, we can't let Tao and Shibumi hog all the fun."

"Of course not," chuckled Rai. "So how is your 'baby' doing?"

"Ah, the Arc II. I've fully reconnected it back to Hypnos. Now that all the important systems are up and running again, I've been gradually sending in modifications. 'Gradually', since the network is still pretty rough, but Yamaki wanted this up and running as soon as possible back when Urocyomon disappeared." He paused. "How's he doing, by the way?"

"Nishimura Miyahara, the young man from the medical department, has been keeping an eye on him. I haven't heard anything else, I've been so busy."

"Hmmm… In either case, take a look at this." Robert tapped a few keys on his keyboard and brought up an image of a red-colored machine with numerous communication dishes and odd tubes sticking out of it from its spherical shape.

"I see you've made quite a number of modifications," Rai noted, her curiosity caught.

"Indeed, my lady," grinned Robert. "The original model of the Arc II, if you recall, was a tad bit more complex in its shape. Then we lost it and had to redesign it from the ground up. Simplification made producing it faster and once it did its job we placed it in storage. There didn't seem to be much need for it after that until Urocyomon went missing."

Rai stood there and took another sip from her mug. Robert enjoyed talking and really liked to listen to himself. He wasn't egotistical by any means, it was more that once he got into the swing of things, it took an apocalypse scale attack to distract him.

And besides, everyone in the Monster Makers group liked to listen to him as well. So why not indulge him?

"So it was brought out…" she continued, keeping things flowing.

"It was brought out because the old Tracers had reached the limits of their design. Their design was rather simplistic even by the Arc II's standards and something new needed to be designed to better scan the digital world. Urocyomon's disappearance necessitated something to be built quickly, and the Arc II was a natural choice as its programming could be modified easily."

"You designed it with the original digimon algorithm…"

"Yeah." For once Robert looked uncertain. "There hasn't been any sign of intelligence in a long while. Not since we brought the Tamers home three years ago. I wonder if being placed into storage did something to it. I wish I had more time to study it…"

"We haven't had much time for anything since Japan requested that we all be brought back," sipped Rai. "My students were sad to see me go. There are times where I miss my work at Miscatonic University."

"At least Shibumi and Tao are in their element here. Same for Daisy. I miss Babel though, but he's with Morpheus right now."

"I heard from him recently." Another sip. "He says that his superiors may have found evidence of Tamers in the United States."

"They've been saying that for years. Makes me wonder what's so special about Japan where it's the only country that actually confirmed it. Everyone else only has rumors."

"It could be because we're closer to the digital world. D-Reaper came here first before anywhere else. Even the reappearance of digimon happened here first."

"It makes me wonder if we're gearing up towards another world crisis," Robert mused. "If so, Yamaki's probably going to want me to install something like Yuggoth or Juggernaut onto the Arc II for defensive purposes."

Rai nearly dropped her coffee mug she was so surprised.

"I _doubt_ he'll do that."

"I'll admit he's a lot more than the typical government type, like that Itokawa guy from three years ago. But there are a disturbing amount of them around. Japan's always been about pacifism ever since World War II, and any politicians who call for a more 'proactive' stance aren't greeted very well by civilians or the majority of the government, but if push comes to shove, and with Japan on the metaphorical 'fault line' of the worlds, it makes one wonder what they might do. Heck, I'm already nervous about what America might do. They're not quite so handcuffed as Japan you know."

Robert's frown deepened.

"They've been quiet. _Very_ quiet. Not what I'd expect from a world power when the digital world and all of its potential is right there in the backyard of our very small world."

Rai moved to take another sip from her coffee, only to discover that her mug was empty.

"Well, we can only hope for the future," she replied. "And Yamaki has enough faith in the Tamers to believe that things will be better."

"Yeah," smiled Robert. "I'm sure if Alice were here, she'd vouch for that. Forgive an old man for his ramblings."

"No forgiveness needed," smiled Rai.

**…**

Rai made her way down the hallway, smiling occasionally to the odd coworker that passed by. Turning a corner, she paused outside a door with the name label _Itsuya _before pushing it open and closing it behind her. The office was empty, but that didn't matter to her. Walking around the desk, she placed the coffee mug on it and sat down in the big chair. A moment later, a soft glow enveloped her body and Rai changed, her features slipping away and becoming more masculine and thin. The fluffy white sweater disappeared, replaced by a dark blue suit.

Takahashi Itsuya pushed up his glasses and leaned back in his chair, frowning. He glanced over at the folders lying on his desk. The ones lying on the top contained the files concerning Suzie Wong and Miki Nakajima.

"Risking a lot on just 'hope' for the future Prometheus." He brought his fingers to rest against each other. "You'd better hope that your gamble pays off. Hope can only get you so far."

**…**

A/N: I meant to update Friday, as I couldn't do any updating on Saturday do to commitments, but the chapter was having some difficulty coming together. Dialogue, characterization…everything just refused to work together. About half a chapter pretty much worthless (really, you don't want to see what I originally wrote). So with yesterday as my break, I rethought the chapter and came back to it today with a fresh eye. Surprisingly, things came together a helluva lot better.

This chapter is all about Suzie's recovery, Henry's thoughts on it as her older brother, some mention of Noriko, Norn as she continues her part of the plan…etc and etc. The last bit between Robert and Rai came about for two reasons: one in that I've never really gone into the background of the Monster Makers, their jobs, and the fact that their lives were pretty much uprooted to deal with the digital world. Two, to begin setting up for a later story that will deal with the missing Demon Lords required for Prometheus' plan to work. But more on that in the future. ;P

Until next chapter.

-Crazyeight

9


	10. Beginnings of Changes

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 10/ Beginnings of Changes

Riley leaned forward on the meeting table and massaged her temples. She had just concluded the latest meeting with the Tamers—a meeting that Yamaki ordered her to handle yet again. Although she was used to dealing with groups and giving orders, for some reason she felt somewhat ill at ease and self-conscious when it came to the Tamers.

_It's not like I'm the one that they normally deal with for solving problems,_ she thought. She sighed heavily as she ceased in her ministrations. Her fingers remained on her forehead though, anticipating another headache, or worse yet, the anticipation of the anticipation.

_I think that alone is making my head hurt,_ she commiserated. _But at least I don't have to be the one dealing with Impmon. Yamaki's got that job._

She pushed off the table and leaned back in her chair, feeling not in the least bit better. It was one thing to wish her boss an unfortunate fate, but quite another when that unfortunate fate had others getting caught in the crossfire.

She honestly couldn't decide who deserved getting chewed out more right now. The military for shooting at an already well-identified ally, or Impmon for returning fire in the first place.

_At least no one was killed. Badly injured from burns, especially those that had been trapped in the tank, but not killed. We've been…incredibly lucky so far._

With a shake of her head, Riley got up from her chair and exited the room. Hypnos was back up and running, albeit with some vulnerabilities in processing power, but she couldn't afford to relax just yet.

_I still have to get some paperwork done so that I can get the Tamers their new cell phones._ She groaned inwardly. The military, from what she had gleaned from the scattered reports, had a new weapon in their arsenal utilizing Electro Magnetic Pulses—EMP—that had fried the Tamers' cell phones. Hypnos had been affected as well, but most of their equipment was shielded to deal with such events. There was also Urocyomon to consider, but as the latest report indicated he had become stable, though still unconscious, she wasn't too eager to follow up on that matter just yet. And after that there was also the unusual landscape in the park that had to be quartered off, new security protocols to be applied, the video logs that Yamaki had initially assigned to her before putting her onto the meeting with the Tamers… The list just went on and on and on.

_There's that headache again,_ she thought, pressing her fingers back to her temple. _Suddenly that whole lighter flicking habit that Yamaki's got makes a whole lot of sense._

The sound of her cell phone ringing caught her attention and almost seemed to intensify the slight pangs within her skull. Pulling out her cell phone, she flipped it open and checked the caller ID. It was Yamaki.

"Riley here."

_"I need you to come up to my office,"_ Yamaki said. Riley nodded.

_Sure doesn't beat around the bush, that's for sure…_

"On my way up now, sir." With that, she closed the phone and headed towards the nearest elevator.

**…**

Kazu stretched his arms as he strode down the streets, Guardromon behind him along with Kenta, Ayaka, Takato, Rika, Miki and their respective partners in close proximity.

"Ah, man," groaned Kazu, folding his hands behind his head as a disappointed expression crossed his features. "The one time in a long while where I could have gone and been a hero and the digital world goes and messes things up for me."

"Count yourself lucky," replied Ayaka. "That Daemon guy was pretty tough. He took out _everyone_ except for Ryo and Miki. And Ryo's still in the hospital."

Kazu scowled. "Ryo's tough. Besides, you said that he's already healing up pretty fast, just like Takato did after that fight with the Triceramon last week."

"That's beside the point," frowned Ayaka. Crusadermon, who was walking beside her, nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. This version of Daemon was at the Super Ultimate stage—a stage that is so rare that it borders upon mythical. It should be noted that Gallantmon in his Crimson Mode didn't do much more than merely injure him. No Mega can stand up to a Super Ultimate, let alone groups of Megas. It is most fortunate that Yggdrasil, my former master, identified a total of six Super Ultimates existing."

_"Six?"_ squeaked Kenta, and his trepidation was shared by Guilmon.

"Six sounds like one too many already."

"Do you know what kind of digimon they are?" asked Takato, a concerned look on his face.

"One of them was a Royal Knight partnered to a human…" said Crusadermon, earning some raised eyebrows.

"There's another kid out there with a partner? How many are there?"

"There are other worlds than this one, remember? The human that was spotted by Urocyomon last week is an example of this."

"And the Dark Ocean," mused Takato. "It sure seems like we're running into a lot more trouble lately. I get the feeling we're starting to get a little out of our depth here."

"Very subtle pun there, Takato," said Rika sardonically.

"I didn't mean it…"

"I know." Rika tapped her head meaningfully. "But you're starting to over think things. No offense, but you're not really good at that kind of thing."

"Yeah Chumley," agreed Kazu. "When you do, you go off rambling about space aliens and giant robots."

"Well, when you think about it, that's what we keep running into." Takato's face took on a depressed look. "We need some way to handle all these new dangers. Six Super Ultimates…"

"Five bud. The military took out Daemon."

"For all we know that is the case," said Crusadermon. "But I don't think it would be that easy. Do you remember the human child discovered on the battle grounds?"

"Riley mentioned him during the meeting," noted Rika. "Henry knows him. Atsuo something-or-other." Rika's eyes narrowed angrily. "The little creep bullies Suzie."

"I don't think we should discount him so easily as having a connection with this Daemon. His presence is too much of a coincidence."

"Riley said that she was having someone look into it," said Takato. "We can't really do anything until we know for sure."

"Perhaps. Or we could be looking for an alternative method to discover his involvement on our own."

"Like how?" asked Ayaka.

"We will need to think of something. I would like to discuss this with Henry once he returns from his visit with Noriko."

Renamon phased into view behind Rika, falling into their stride as though she had always been there.

"I can take care of that," the vulpine replied. Crusadermon nodded.

"But what do we do about coming up with new ways to fight?" asked Guilmon from next to Takato. "How will we do that?"

"Yeah," asked Kazu, turning around so that he was facing Crusadermon while still walking. "Do you have some kind of special, secret training or something that we can do?"

"What about that special…ah…thing that I have?" asked Guilmon. "I was covered in lots of funny lights and I used it to bring Takato back when I thought he was dead." Guilmon tapped his claw on one chin. "You have one too, don't you?"

"Unfortunately the use of the Sephirot algorithm is limited in this world. And not only that, as you _noticed,"_ Crusadermon said that last word rather pointedly, "you haven't been able to use it since we returned from the digital world three years ago."

"I know. I just thought that there was some kind of training that I had to go through to use it and that I only was able to use it that one time because…well, that's what Takato and I usually do."

Takato raised an eyebrow at his partner while Rika chuckled.

"Dino-boy's got a point there," she chided. "The two of you usually stumble through the learning process. How long did it take for you to figure out Crimson Mode?"

"And you still don't know all the ins and outs of it?" added Kazu with a grin.

"Okay, okay…" Takato sighed. "I get it. Man, I'm just glad Terriermon isn't here to follow up on all of this…"

"The reason why the code isn't working is because of Yggdrasil. When Royal Knights leave her service Sephirot ceases to work for them."

"What if Yggdrasil is deleted?" asked Guilmon.

"Such a thing would not happen," Crusadermon replied, not missing a beat. "However, to return to the topic at hand, we should consider what methods are needed in defeating powerful opponents and how they can be best used."

The Royal Knight paused in her stride, rubbing her hand upon her armored chin thoughtfully. Everyone stopped to look at her with questioning eyes.

"We will need an isolated area to work in. Perhaps the warded, digital area in the park…"

Turning she grabbed Guilmon by his arm and hauled him up into the air.

"Hey!" Guilmon squawked in surprise. "What are you…?"

"Um…Crusadermon?" began Ayaka, but the Royal Knight was already jumping into the air, dragging a squirming Guilmon behind her and leaving the Tamers staring dumbfounded.

"Man," spoke up Kazu after an appropriate moment of silence. "And Terriermon always claimed Takato and Rika would go off to elope."

"Kazu!" snarled Ayaka, whipping out her digivice. "Shut up! This is…" Growling, Ayaka pressed the button on her D-Arc, only for nothing to happen. "Stupid piece of junk. Crusadermon! What are you _doing?_ Crusadermon!"

"Well…that was different," mused Rika as she watched Ayaka chase after her partner with Kenta and MarineAngemon in tow. She glanced at Takato. "How come you aren't going after them?"

"Um... Well, I don't think she would do anything to hurt him…"

"Way to be a responsible Tamer, Gogglehead," glowered Rika. She turned to Renamon, and the vulpine nodded. Taking hold of the two Tamers by the waists, she leapt into the air, pursuing their quarry. Kazu and Guardromon watched them go; Kazu sullenly while Guardromon had a curious and confused look in his eyes. Kazu sighed dejectedly.

"Everyone's got somebody but me," he said finally. Guardromon raised an eyebrow.

"That's not true. You have me, Miki, and Dracmon here with you."

Miki, who had been watching the scene, turned towards Guardromon in bewilderment. "Say wha…?"

"That's not what I meant, you big lugnut," replied Kazu, banging a fist on his partner's iron hide. "C'mon. We'd better not lose them."

The teen climbed up onto his partner's shoulder and looked down at Miki. "You comin'?"

Miki paused before shaking her head.

"No. I'm going to go meet up with Jeri. I talked to her earlier and she's coming to town to see Ryo."

Kazu shrugged. "Suit yourself. C'mon Guardromon. Get the lead out!"

"Very well, Kazu!" exclaimed the rust-colored robot as his engines fired up. "Up, up, and awayyy!"

Miki turned and began to walk down the street, not bothering to watch the two partners chase after their friends. Dracmon followed, a bored expression on his face.

"Hey," he asked the girl's retreating back. "If you're going to meet up with Jeri, can I go home? No offense, but I'm not too keen on the two of you talking about 'girl stuff' for hours on end."

"And what would happen if a digimon suddenly came out of nowhere to fight me?" Miki asked, frowning at the diminutive digimon. Dracmon was unphased.

"You could always run and hide. That seems to work real well for you humans. Besides, you all have that fancy new healing power thing going for you."

"I don't know if I have that."

Dracmon grinned and raised one hand. The red nails on his fingers gleamed in the sunlight.

"I could put that theory to the test you know."

"Beanie…"

"Just kidding." Dracmon made his nails disappear as he stomped after her. "Man, this is the one thing about this whole partner thing that I don't like. I have to tramp after you, keep you out of trouble even when you're not, carry your bags…"

"Um…you don't carry my bags or anything…"

"And to top it all off," Dracmon continued, ignoring her, "whenever we biomerge, _I'm_ the one who suddenly has to have a gender! Really, why is it that I have to have those…whatchamacallems…_breasts?_ We digimon don't even have genders, technically speaking. My old teacher, Togemon, gave me the whole mons and beemons talk back in school, and I _know_ I don't have the personality, or the evolution, to be a well-endowed chick, never mind _a_ chick!"

"Something wrong with being a girl?"

"Yeah. The whole boobs thing throws me off balance every single time. And then there's the robe stuff. It's really cramping my style. And speaking of cramps, I hate biomerging with you whenever you're having your period…"

"I think that's enough, Beanie," grumbled Miki, pulling out her digivice. "But you did give me an idea. If you don't want to 'listen to girl talk for hours on end' then how about we biomerge, quickly pick up Jeri and get her to the hospital? Lilithmon can fly you know."

Dracmon crossed his arms, looking suddenly pleased. "Well, I guess Lilithmon's power of gravitation is good for something after all."

Miki raised a confused eyebrow. "Power of…?" She suddenly glared at her partner. "Dracmon!"

"Huh? What?" Dracmon asked, looking baffled at Miki's sudden flaring temper. "She flies, doesn't she? What's the big deal?"

"I…she… Ohhh…never mind! Just…biomerge activate already."

A bright light burst from the screen of her digivice, enveloping the two. A second later, a tall, violet-haired, pale-skinned woman wearing purple robes flew out of the light and escaped into the sky.

**…**

Riley opened the door to Yamaki's office to find her employer sitting in his chair, turned to one side so that he could have a view of the window, idly flicking his lighter open and closed. Sitting in a chair directly in front of his desk was a woman wearing a smart business suit. She had one leg lying atop the other while her arms were folded beneath her breasts. Her expression conveyed nothing more than what her outfit implied and she nodded respectfully to Riley as she closed the door behind her. Riley recognized the woman as she nodded back.

_Juria Yoshikawa… One of the main sponsors of Hypnos._

"Hello, Riley," greeted Yamaki, snapping his lighter closed with a loud click.

"Am I interrupting anything?" asked Riley uncertainly, stepping forward.

"Far from it, Ms. Ootori," chimed in Yoshikawa. "As a matter of fact, you are the reason why I'm here in the first place." She indicated the seat directly next to her with a nod of her head. "Do sit down. We have much to discuss."

Riley's blood ran cold, but she took the seat.

"I'll get right to the point," said Yoshikawa. "As you are keenly aware, matters involving the digital world has moved up on the international stage. It has become increasingly on the minds of other nations, most notably concerning the United States, China, and the European Union."

Riley nodded. She was well aware of the changes in foreign policy that many nations have had since events started from the barely covered-up rumors of the Deva invasions to the full-out truth coming out during the D-Reaper attack.

_America's 'War on Terror' certainly ground to a halt real fast…_

"The D-Reaper's attack has convinced numerous governments that an international coalition is necessary to deal with the digital world," added Yamaki, flicking his lighter open. "From their perspective, the digital world is too large for Hypnos to deal with. They don't want a sole agency to handle something so world changing."

"Understandable," said Riley, glancing at Yoshikawa.

"Morpheus is an example of this. When it was first conceived, it was an extension of the United States Homeland Security department, but now it has the backing of the United Nations and, more or less, their oversight. Before too long, Hypnos, along with other nations versions of Hypnos, will be incorporated under Morpheus."

"I…see." Riley wasn't sure if she entirely liked that development. "But what does that have to do with me?"

Yoshikawa turned towards Yamaki, who answered.

"It is the preference of our countries parliament to promote from within. The language barrier aside, the people here know the situation better. While it is inevitable that the change from autonomy to oversight will bring many changes, for now someone who is familiar with the technology and the people are a requirement."

"The last person that was sent in here without any familiarity caused problems," reminded Yoshikawa. "You remember Itokawa and the mess of the Argus program. That is not a situation that anyone wants to have a repeat of." Yoshikawa chuckled. "Not if they want to keep their jobs anyway."

"So…what you're saying is…" Riley's eyes narrowed as she processed the information she had been given. It almost sounded as though…

"Yamaki is being promoted and transferred," continued Yoshikawa. "He will be dealing more directly with the international stage dealing with digital affairs and acting in an advisory role for Morpheus and its various U.N. branches. You will be his replacement."

Riley had to fight to keep the strength from running out of her body. She could only pray that her expression felt as schooled as she thought it did.

_But…Yamaki…_ She shook her head mentally, trying to get a hold over the storm of thoughts that raged through her mind. It almost seemed like too much of a shift. "When…is this taking place?"

Soon." Yoshikawa glanced at Yamaki. "As the digital weather allows. The paperwork is already in order and has been for quite some time now. If everything goes well, then by the end of Golden Week."

"That's…barely enough time," Riley stammered. "We're already at a low point right now. A change of staff is going to disrupt things. It could take months just to get back on track, and the Tamers have only just been admitted into our program."

"The Japanese government is well aware of the stresses that this will cause for Hypnos." Yoshikawa leaned back in her chair, not looking the least bit disturbed. "However, the problems on the international scene are forcing their hand. Morpheus wants results as soon as possible. It's highly likely that they will try to recall as many of the 'Monster Makers' as possible as well, given their previous status of employments and living locations. They have been, in the words of one U.S. Senator, 'on loan for far too long'."

Riley's hands gripped the arms of her chair tightly. _We're getting our legs cut off while we're trying to stand back up._

"Ma'am. Do any of these governments realize that Japan contains the highest number of Bio-emergences? We literally have a paper-thin boundary separating our two worlds. It's not like it is anywhere else where there's the odd rumor or sighting. Japan hasn't had any of those in over three years. Not even South Korea has had any sightings, and they're one of the most connected countries in the world."

"Well, with North Korea on their borders, there's a strong possibility that their government would be keeping any such reports as low profile as possible. But that's mere speculation." Yoshikawa waved a dismissive hand. "At any rate, this has all been decided, Ms. Ootori. At this point, there's no one more qualified than you to be at the head of Hypnos. You fit _all_ of the qualifications. More importantly, you know the Tamers and they trust you."

"So that's it? I'm just being kept on just so that I can keep the Tamers in line and send them on whatever suicide missions are needed?"

"Riley." Yamaki's lighter snapped shut and he turned his chair around, catching Riley's attention. The two of them exchanged looks until finally the red-haired woman bit the inside of her mouth and glanced away. Yoshikawa observed this patiently.

"It appears that you have a lot on your mind. Yamaki. Ootori. I'll leave you to settle this between yourselves. Just don't forget that the deal has already been signed and packaged." Yoshikawa got up from her chair and headed towards the door. "I'll see myself out."

The door clicked shut, leaving the two alone in the office.

"Sir," began Riley in a low voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Nothing was certain," replied Yamaki, placing his lighter down on the desk and leaning forward. _"Still_ isn't certain, regardless of what Ms. Yoshikawa said. My replacement hasn't been decided. There are a number of people who want to see someone else in charge. Yoshikawa wants to make sure that you are the one they lean towards."

"No." Riley shook her head. "I mean, why didn't you tell me that _you_ were leaving?" Riley looked up at Yamaki with an angry expression. "I could handle you giving me more responsibility. You've been doing it on and off for years from everything to being your second-in-command to fetching _bagels_ for you! But you never once said anything about leaving Hypnos!"

"I'm not making any excuses, Riley…"

"For God's sake _Yamaki!"_ Unexpectedly, even to herself, Riley stood up and slammed her hands on her superior's desk. "We've been together for a long time. I know you've never told me _everything_ about what you're doing. Hell, I've turned a blind eye to it half the time, but you rarely left me out of the loop when I needed to know something."

Riley realized the way she was speaking to her boss and backed off, taking her hands off his desk. She remained standing though.

"This is…a _lot_ to soak in, and I know this isn't some spur of the moment decision. This sort of thing takes months to plan out. And you never hinted it to me."

Yamaki leaned back in his chair, frowning. After a moment, he raised one hand and took off his sunglasses.

"If I did, would it have changed anything?"

Riley pulled her fingers into a pair of tight fists. Turning, she grated her teeth together.

"Just so you know…" she paused and closed her eyes, fighting against the pain that stung them. "You've got the couch tonight mister."

"Riley…"

"I have work that needs taking care of," she said. "I'll…see you later tonight."

Yamaki watched her go with a sharp frown on his face. As the door clicked shut once again, he leaned into his hands, a thoughtful look crossing his brow.

* * *

A/N: This chapter advances the subplot of Riley and the changes involving Hypnos and the world in light of the rather shocking knowledge that there's a whole other world out there, practically within its own communication system. Some bits in this chapter are a result of a conversation I've had with another author on this site, **RogueTamer2k7**. Other bits haven't yet been touched on, but a point was brought up regarding events like the War on Terror (taking the airing date of Tamers to be in the same year as 9/11 and the start of the Bush presidency, and also taking some on-screen calendar dates from the episode 'Snakes, Trains, and Digimon', which looks like it puts episode 15 square in the middle of July, also on the 15th. Fun fact. The Rescue of Calumon arc is mentioned to be in October as well, and the clothing of the Tamers worn during the D-Reaper arc seems to refute that it is at least autumn), and how the world might become different as a result. How different is presently up in the air, but as the setting moves towards a more grown up atmosphere, we'll see the world of the Tamers as they've seen it butting heads with a rather rough reality.

Until next chapter then.

-Crazyeight

* * *

8


	11. Distrust

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 11/ Distrust

_Red eyes awoke to warm crackling of a fire. But it was not the only heat that Takato felt. Shifting against the sand, he felt the shiver of fever race its way through his body. Pulling the hood of his shirt up around his head, Takato in the hopes of keeping warm, he picked himself up off the ground and turned his head._

_ The motion did far more damage than what the fever felt like it was doing. The world swam immediately and Takato collapsed to the ground, his stomach heaving and trying to empty its non-contents onto the dirt ground…_

Dirt?

_ Takato gasped and clutched his hands to his stomach as he tried to make sense of where he was. He was in a dark forest, though it was difficult to tell for certain. The light of the fire didn't reveal much, and it appeared flimsy and feeble; far from the comforting thing that he knew from back home. Panic rose in his chest and Takato rose with it…only to collapse back to the ground as nausea seized hold of him once again. Sick…how did he get sick? And worse, he felt weak. He was vulnerable in the middle of what could only be the dark forest of this Dark Ocean world that lay between the worlds—the spot on the map marked 'here there be monsters'. He had already learned to avoid the forest, so…_ What am I doing here? How did I get here?

_While Takato fought to get his stomach back under control he wracked his mind, trying to work out the answers to the questions that plagued him. Images flashed through his mind, from when he saw Anubismon to the BlackGatomon that he had tried to kill out of desperation…_

_ He caught something out of the corner of his eye. Movement. Turning as best as he could, he saw the vague outline of a feline shape approaching him, golden eyes burning bright against the darkness. Takato paused, struck by their color. They seemed so…familiar._

_ "Guilmon…?"_

_ The figure hesitated at the name before speaking. "You should be trying to rest, human," it said as it sat down next to him. Reaching out with a gloved paw it took hold of his mouth and pushed a leaf at the edge of his mouth. Takato coughed and sputtered as water was poured down his throat. The cat's eyes narrowed. "You'd better drink it all, human. There's nothing else around here, and this is as far away from the Ocean that we can get for right now. You need to keep your strength up."_

_ Takato managed to push the leaf away and unsteadily sat up. He tottered, but managed to hold himself with something approximating straightness._

_ "Why…why are you…?" Takato blinked blearily. His thoughts were all a tangled mess. He could barely even see who he was talking to. The light from the fire was such a pathetic thing in the darkness of this forest. "Who…?"_

_ "Save the 'why', 'what', and 'when' questions for when you actually get better, human. I don't need you dying on me… If that's possible in this place."_

_ "But… But…" Takato fell forward, but he caught himself on his hands. "This…doesn't make any sense…"_

_ "Nothing does," replied the feline sternly. "What's your point?"_

_ With a determined growl, Takato pushed himself up to his feet, shaking off whatever weariness that he possibly could. The heat from the fever baked at him while simultaneously he shivered from the world that was now too cold for him. He coughed and turned, stumbling off into the forest._

_ "Hey!" called out the feline, launching itself on top of his head. Takato stumbled as her—it was definitely a she if the voice meant anything—sudden impact nearly sent him crashing back to the ground. "You need to _rest!"

_Takato grabbed hold of a tree, panting heavily. "Why… Why are you…trying to help me?" A memory flashed through his mind. A memory where he stood over a fallen BlackGatomon, preparing to kill it with a rock in his hand. His stomach shuddered, remembering the hunger from back then—the hunger that it still felt even now. Takato looked down at his shaking hand, and his eyes widened. In the dim light, it almost appeared…_

_ A pair of gold eyes suddenly obstructed his vision. _

_ "Just go to sleep already," BlackGatomon growled at him. "There is a place of safety not far from here. You can ask your meaningless questions then."_

_ "But…but…"_

_ Takato's legs buckled, but he refused to drop. Seeing this, BlackGatomon sighed heavily and rolled her eyes._

_ "I see we'll have to do this the hard way." Gold suddenly took on a crimson glow and Takato's mind became white. __**"Cat's Eye Hypnotism!"**_

_With that, Takato collapsed to the ground. BlackGatomon tumbled off his head, eyeing him carefully to make sure that he wasn't going anywhere or try anything stupid. The boy twitched, as though fighting the effects of her spell, but after a minute he finally became still. Grabbing hold of him, she dragged him closer to the fire._

_ "Hopefully this time he'll stay asleep for a while…"_

**...**_  
_

Red eyes awoke to warmth, but there was no crackling of fire to greet him. Glancing down he saw a pair of black wings surrounding him and holding him close to… Takato froze.

_No way…_

Shifting as carefully as he could, he felt something soft glide down his neck. Glancing down, he saw strands of red hair flowing over his shoulder and onto the wings. He saw something move beneath the wings, and Takato swallowed nervously. He knew it wasn't him.

_LadyDevimon…_

Takato felt understandably uncomfortable. This, of course, was hardly the first time that he had been 'close' to LadyDevimon, but when they were and it was outside of battle or her flying him around, she did so pursuing her own agenda. What that agenda was, he did not like to think about. She was, putting it mildly, a most perplexing creature. Carefully, ever so carefully, he reached out, hoping to part the wings and crawl out without her noticing.

_Easy… Easy…_ The wing parted an inch and then a razor-sharp, crimson claw popped up in front of his face. Takato jerked back, taken by surprise. "I really need to think my ideas through…"

"Indeed," breathed LadyDevimon's sultry voice within his ear. "Welcome back to the land of the living, my young one."

In a flurry of shadow, Takato found himself flat on his back with LadyDevimon towering over him, the heel of her boot planted firmly against his chest. Smirking, she knelt downward until her hair all but hid his face.

"So…was there something wrong with our sleeping arrangements that you felt that you needed to escape?"

"Uh…" Takato blanched under the demoness' crimson gaze. Her smirk widened slightly upon seeing his fear, brandishing her fangs to help add to it. "I…ah…I…needed to…pee?"

LadyDevimon's smirk vanished in a whirlpool of puzzlement. After a moment, realization dawned in her eyes, and with a _tsk _she pulled away, removing her boot from his chest

"Honestly… You humans have some of the most disgusting habits."

_Should you really be the one saying that?_ Takato thought, but he was wise enough to keep such thoughts to himself. Laughing lightly, he sat up, massaging the spot on his chest where LadyDevimon had pinned him. "So…uh…what happened while I was out?" He looked around him. "This…this doesn't look like where we last left off." Takato frowned. Desert had been replaced by terrain no less barren, but the landscape looked unyielding beyond all belief, filled with solid, gray and purple stone that had an almost volcanic look to it. And the skyline… Where there was once blue there was now a brilliant sunset, causing the sky to look as though it had been set on fire.

Takato's eyes softened as he took in the sunset, and he pulled one hand into a tight fist.

"There's…something familiar about this place."

"I take it you've been to the Land of the Sovereigns," came a powerful, proud voice as a shadow fell upon Takato. Turning, the teen was surprised to see a lion-like warrior wearing a cap and a jacket with a massive blade sheathed on one hip. A large, X-like scar sat emblazoned on his chest like a sign of pride or a banner, and sitting between his fangs was a blade of grass. He had all the look of a lone warrior about him, a look that Takato easily recognized from Jeri's former partner, Leomon and in the Pride of Lions. Yet at the same time…

Takato's eyes widened and he quickly got to his feet. "The Pride of Lions…"

"I am not a part of that group," said the lion calmly. Takato glanced up at LadyDevimon, who nodded reluctantly.

"He did…help us. This is BanchouLeomon, a Mega-level digimon of the Vaccine variety."

"Well…if LadyDevimon vouches for you…"

"I do _not_ vouch for him in anything," snarled LadyDevimon.

"Um…" Takato scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "…then what are you saying, exactly?"

LadyDevimon glared down at Takato.

"Shouldn't you be wondering where Kurata is?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Hey!"

"He and his 'companion' are safe. They are with a friend at the moment. He would also like to see the two of you at your earliest convenience."

"Hold on," began Takato. "Could you at least explain to us a few things first? Why did you help us? And who is this friend of yours? And why are we in the Sovereigns' level?" Takato cast a look around him. "And where are they, anyway? I don't see their castles or anything."

"So you have been here," remarked BanchouLeomon. "Only it has been some time since you were last here. The Sovereigns were all destroyed three years ago when the X Project was unleashed." BanchouLeomon looked away and sucked on his blade of grass for a moment. "Or so I've been told."

Takato stood there, his eyes wide with shock. The Sovereigns…_ Azulongmon, Zhuqiaomon…_ All of them. Destroyed? He shook his head in disbelief.

_It…can't be…_

LadyDevimon merely _hmmphed_ and took hold of Takato by the shoulder. "Let's get out of here, Takato. I see no need why we should stay."

"But…what about Kurata?" asked Takato, refocusing on the matter at hand. "We need to take him with us…"

"In case you forgot," LadyDevimonn tightened her grip on the boy, "he tried to kill us at the first chance he saw. He is little more than a weight chaining us down at the moment. And since he has recently separated from the Demon Lord he carried inside him, he is nothing more than a liability."

"No." Takato placed his hand on LadyDevimon's, but looked at BanchouLeomon straight in the eye. "We need some answers."

"Takato, do you _not_ feel the power out there?" LadyDevimon gestured around them. "The Sovereigns _may_ be gone like BanchouLeomon says," she glared at the Mega for added emphasis, "but there's something else other than us here. And don't tell me that you don't sense it, you fool. I know you are not that thick headed!"

Takato frowned, but he maintained his resolve. "We're not leaving Kurata behind."

"Takato…" LadyDevimon suddenly grabbed of the boy by both shoulders and suddenly propelled them into the air, away from a still calm and unsurprised BanchouLeomon. The lion watched them rocket into the sky, casually sucking the stem he held between his teeth.

"Hey!" exclaimed Takato as he felt his heart drop into his stomach upon seeing the ground shrink beneath his feet. "LadyDevimon! What are you…?"

"We need to talk," she snarled. Spreading her wings out she drew them to halt and spun the boy around so that they were face to face. "Why are you so intent on keeping Kurata around?"

"Huh?" Takato blinked. "Intent on keeping Kurata…"

_"Do not_ repeat what I say! By the dark waters, if there's _anything_ that I hate most about you, it's when you try to play dumb, and it's insulting to see a stupid person bother to try…"

"But…hold on. Didn't you just get done saying…?"

"Don't try to change the subject." LadyDevimon shoved her face closer to the boy and narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits. "GranDracmon _himself _said he doesn't care whether or not Kurata sticks around and we don't need him for our mission except to use as bait which has _already_ brought us more trouble than is worth. I for one hate the little man and he hates_ all _digimon unequivocally to the point where he committed mass genocide. Maybe you think he is misunderstood, but an entire dimension believes—_knows—_better! You have me shackled by your pathetic promise, so I want to know why you think he's so important to bother keep around."

Takato glanced away, not meeting her gaze. "I… LadyDevimon…"

"Do _not_ get out of answering! For the love of… Stop being so half-hearted! I won't stand for it and that human doesn't deserve even a piece of it!"

"So are you saying that you don't deserve any of it either?" snapped Takato, finally losing his temper.

With a sudden shriek, LadyDevimon hurled Takato towards the ground. He didn't get a chance to cry out in surprise. The ground plummeted towards him at breakneck speed, beyond all eagerness to meet him. It demanded to meet him, and it would greet him in the most horrific way possible.

_I'm going to hit the ground and I'm not going to even feel it happening…_ Was all Takato had a chance to think before a golden glow suddenly flared around him. Before he even touched the ground, Takato slowed in his descent until he came to a stop, bare centimeters from touchdown. Relaxing, Takato looked up just in time to see a massive, dragon-like creature materialize out of thin air.

If there was one thing that LadyDevimon was right about, it was that he _did_ sense the presence of an extremely powerful digimon within the vicinity. However, at the time it had felt distant. His senses weren't as developed as LadyDevimon, even with his 'cloak' to enhance them. Now however, with the source of the power suddenly right there in front of him his senses practically exploded from the overload of information they were receiving. Takato's clothes warped and spikes shot out, instinctively reacting to the perceived danger that the cloak detected.

And there was plenty of reason why it felt threatened by the dragon.

Its massive size aside, easily dwarfing Azulongmon, who had been the longest of the Four Digimon Sovereign, the creature was heavily armored. Judging just from appearances, Takato had a hard time believing that even Gallantmon in his Crimson Mode would be able to so much as put a scratch on the dragon's golden armor. And the claws…well, what little Takato could see anyway…

Takato shuddered. The creature was so large that he couldn't even see everything about it. The claws looked as though just by merely moving an inch they could sink an entire continent. Power practically flowed off the creature in _waves_, and it merely towered over him, staring.

"Huanglongmon," came the whisper of LadyDevimon. Takato jumped. He hadn't realized that she had followed him down.

_"I am the Fifth Sovereign,"_ came the voice of the great beast within their minds. Takato flinched instinctively, but was quick to relax and the spikes in his shirt retracted before his clothes smoothed themselves out. The dragon's voice was surprisingly smooth and even-handed. In many ways, it felt as though he were talking to Kai's grandfather.

_Only, you know, without the whole eccentric thing going on…_

_ "Welcome, travelers from the Dark Area. I apologize for having startled you. However, you both appeared…ill tempered._

Takato heard LadyDevimon growl behind him and he chuckled. "Sorry. We're always like that. I think it's become kind of our hobby now." Getting up, Takato dusted himself off. "Hi. I'm Takato. And this is LadyDevimon."

_"So I have gleaned from your companion, the human, Kurata. You have all traveled quite far. I have need of you."_

"Of course you do," snarled LadyDevimon, stepping forward. "You, who is oh-so-wise-and-powerful…"

_"I am limited in what I can do in this world. My master has brought me out of my sleep to fulfill a purpose. To do otherwise, would be to risk endangering the digital world's existence. I represent the totality of the universe. Yin and Yang. I cannot do more."_

"Your kind never does." LadyDevimon grated her teeth together. "It's no wonder why everything falls apart around you."

A low, thunderous growl of amusement emanated from the back of the dragon's throat.

_"You have spirit, dark one. But you should take care to not let it get the best of you."_ Huanglongmon shifted his head so that one eye reflected LadyDevimon's image back on herself. _"Is it no wonder that you fell?"_

The demoness said nothing, but pulled one hand into a tight fist.

_"I asked for BanchouLeomon to look for you. I had sensed that you broke through the barriers between the Dark Area and the digital world, and I know the entity that you seek. Prometheus."_

"How did you know?" asked Takato.

Huanglongmon's eyes shone. _"If you would open your minds, I shall show you."_

Takato glanced at LadyDevimon, who was glaring at him. However, she said nothing, and after a moment, she looked away.

"All right," said Takato, returning his gaze to Huanglongmon. "Let's do this."

_"Very well."_

Power rose upon the air, and Takato felt his clothes being blown by the invisible force. Closing his eyes, Takato took a deep breath and steadied himself. A part of him could already hear LadyDevimon asking him why he was allowing this, but for the moment he brushed her unspoken concerns away. They needed a lead, and this was the closest they had gotten since setting out.

_Not that we've really been searching for very long, _he thought. _It feels like we only just got started and then we were attacked. First the village, and then the Pride of Courage…_ Takato heaved a heavy sigh. _We've got to find out something…anything for GranDracmon. No matter what. I…owe him that much._

Takato frowned. Something tickled in the back of his mind. Something about that thought…felt wrong for some reason.

Brushing the unexpected doubt away for the moment he let himself go, opening up to a gentle presence prodding at his mind. At first there came what felt like a trickling sensation inside his brain, and then an image appeared.

Thereafter followed a sudden onslaught of images and information that sent Takato crashing to the ground with a cry.

_"My apologies,"_ said Huanglongmon._ "I did not mean to harm you in such a manner. I was…unprepared for the complexities of the human mind."_

"That's…" Takato winced and pressed one hand against his forehead. "That's…okay. Ow…" Takato winced again. He could see a jumble of images every time he closed his eyes. A young girl with wings… Digimon rampaging unchecked with the crests of the seven sins emblazoned on their bodies… Shinjuku…

That last caused Takato to stiffen up and he focused on that image. A series of images began to flow again, showing him an image of a young girl with brownish-colored hair tied up into two, small buns, chocolate colored eyes, and an Asian-styled shirt. She looked…very familiar.

"Suzie?" Takato questioned. "Prometheus is going after…home?" Takato surged to his feet all of a sudden, panic appearing on his face. "Prometheus is in the real world—_my _world! He's going after the Tamers!"

LadyDevimon raised a hand, as though to calm him down, but hesitated. After a moment, the hand lowered to her side, pulling into a tight fist.

"Huanglongmon! Can you send us to the real world?"

_"I cannot, young Takato. At least, not directly. Prometheus cannot know that I have been awakened. However, BanchouLeomon can show you the gateway that leads to your home world. I have grafted a program into his digi-core that will show him the way."_

"All right," nodded Takato. "I'm going." He turned to LadyDevimon, who merely glanced away and made a _tsking_ noise.

"I'll come as well," she said noncommittally. Takato looked at her with a sad look before returning his attention to Huanglongmon, his expression taking on a more determined look.

"We're _all_ going."

**...**

Silver pursed her lips together as she sifted through the archives, picking through a number of microchip-like objects. Imprinted upon them were the images of numerous digimon, all of them ranging from famous to obscure. They were all digimon who had previously played a role in the history of the digital world. These were the digi-memories, a historical archive of sorts for digimon. On the surface, they recorded the attacks and power of the digimon they recorded, but they also did much more than that. If one knew how to manipulate data enough, they could read the history behind them, even call up the personality of the digimon in question.

There were limitations, however. While the personality could be called up, it only served to call up the individual in the point in time that one was looking for. The personality did not interact with the outside world, only to the events recorded within.

Silver held up one of the digi-memories, gazing at it carefully. On its surface was emblazoned the image of a Sakuyamon in her Kabuki Mode.

_The Fourth Mother of the Seer Council. You are in the wrong archive. I'll need to send you to the Seer Council. They have need of you._

Silver leaned back in her chair, considering the digi-memory for a moment. She had already been through numerous digi-memories, searching for some reference to the now BlackRenamon that lay in the compounds infirmary. She was resting for now, kept that way by the sleeping spells that had been laid over her to insure that she rested while she healed, but that would not last forever. The longer an individual was exposed to the same spell, the more likely they would develop a resistance to it, and as much as she hated to admit it, there was a good chance that they would need to use it against the Rookie while there was still time.

While she was still weak and inexperienced with her form.

Silver placed a hand upon her mask, thinking hard.

_I have searched for this long, and I still haven't found anything regarding the BlackRenamon legend. It's odd. It's known well enough for even the Congress of the Taomon to know of the creature's existence, but I haven't found so much as a single reference to it in the archives._

Silver sighed and cast a look down the library. Bookshelves and crates containing books and digi-memories seemed to go on forever. It would take her quite some time to sort through all of them. Far longer than she felt they had time for.

_I still need to help the human as well,_ she mused. _Marcus Damon. In all our knowledge there has never been an incident of an individual drinking of the waters of the Dark Area. At the very least, no one ever admitted it, and certainly few individuals from the Dark Area were ever put in a situation where they were willing to share such information._

"Silver," came a voice behind her. Turning, Silver found the gray-haired Sakuyamon floating in mid-air, looking down at her.

"Aunt," she nodded.

"What have you to report?"

"Sadly, very little, save that I found the record of the Fourth Mother, who presided over the Dark Sun incident. Have you reached a decision regarding the Princess?"

"Perhaps after we've taken a look at this digi-memory," the Sakuyamon replied, taking it from her hand. "Have you analyzed it?"

"Not yet. I only recently found it." Silver paused before continuing. "Aunt… The archives are…not filed very well. I am having difficulty locating any relevant information. I have searched through all known Apocalymon events, the first time prior to his banishment behind the Firewall to his reemergence and battles with the Digidestined of the Eastern Quadrant. I've even researched the Apocalymon that appeared in the Southern Quadrant just to make extra certain that I hadn't overlooked anything, but even so… I have yet to find anything related to the BlackRenamon. Both events are rare and Apocalymon's first and second appearances especially are well-documented events. Perhaps some efforts should be made to locate the East's first Digidestined. I have heard that they encountered the first one…"

"Azulongmon has forbidden it," said the Sakuyamon, closing the topic firmly. Silver sighed mentally, but nodded in agreement.

"It would, perhaps, take too long anyway. The human world in the East is rather far, while we are located in the South. Crossing the barriers would take far more effort than it is worth. But even so, finding anything more will take time."

"We shall see whether it is at all worth the effort," nodded the Sakuyamon. "We will have to awaken her soon. I have suggested that we try and reintegrate the child, get her used to her new life while we search for a way to cure her." The Sakuyamon sighed heavily and shook her head. "The Council has come to a decision about the Princess. She is the only one of us at our level to have achieved the Kabuki Mode."

"She is too young," Silver reminded her. "Barely more than a child. We've never even had one of our own merged with a human before either. Their…ability to constantly revert would be too much of a hindrance."

"It does seem that the biomerging is rather taxing for the human side of the equation," agreed the Sakuyamon. "But the decision has been made. We will send a delegation to see her and, hopefully, retrieve her as well. The Seer Council must be made whole. And we should remind ourselves that these humans were the last ones to see Kuzuhamon and Urocyomon. They may know where they are."

"But what if the Princess doesn't want to join us?" asked Silver. "Or worse yet, _won't."_

The Sakuyamon was silent for a moment before replying.

"The Seer Council will be made whole. All Renamon know their duty. All Sakuyamon who reach the fabled Kabuki Mode know their duty. All that are Chosen know their duty. Renamon and Rika Nonaka cannot refuse once they've been awakened to it."

The Sakuyamon looked at the digi-memory she held for a moment before passing it back to Silver.

"Look through this first for any information regarding the BlackRenamon species. Then have it sent to the Council chambers when you are finished."

"As you wish, Aunt."

"Have you seen to the human?"

"I have servants preparing the ingredients for his medicine while I researched the archives. I am to be informed when they are ready so that I can prepare the final stage. It should be another hour at least until they are ready."

"Very well." The Sakuyamon pressed her lips together. "The Council…is worried about his presence here. There is talk about having him leave as soon as he is able."

"But…our tenants…!"

"No decision has been made on the matter," assured the Sakuyamon. "But know that a decision will have to be made eventually. Regardless of their affiliation or the role that they play, there is a strong possibility that he will be called upon to leave. Perhaps even answer for his role in the creation of the BlackRenamon."

"He had no knowledge that his actions would cause such a thing to happen."

"As far as he has told us, that is true. But we have only his word for it."

Silver stared at her superior in shock. The Sakuyamon nodded.

"Do you see now why we need a Mother, Child?" she asked. "Only her sight is clear enough for matters such as this. Those of us who are below her would merely tear ourselves apart with our lower-order concerns. I have seen it happen before. It is not a pleasant thing to behold, believe me. The Princess entering our order, with a human and young, would be a small price to pay to prevent something like that from happening."

With that, the Sakuyamon turned and faded into thin air, leaving Silver alone with her thoughts and the digi-memories.

**...**

A/N: Sick. Again. Got better, then had a bit of a relapse (while I was at work, no less. Awesome). It was a time of hacking. A time of my throat feeling like a cat was ripping it (and my chest) apart. A time of feverish chills that was made even more awesome by the fact that it came during my relapse AFTER I had spent close to an hour outside on the coldest possible day, and prevented me from so much as getting warm even after I went inside in a heated building. It's not usual for me to be sick for two weeks, or to get sick as often as I have in the time frame from the last time I was sick (which was chapter 8, so…four weeks ago?). Usually once or twice a year is about it and it can be measured between major season changes like summer into fall and winter into spring.

But enough ranting. This chapter brings back Other-Takato and the Seer Council. As we can see, not all is well, particularly on Takato's end of things as he again clashes with LadyDevimon. His persistence to keep Kurata around continues to be a problem for LadyDevimon, perhaps justly so considering Kurata's background. But then, we know very little about LadyDevimon as well, or about Takato's own reasons for not leaving him. More exploration into the matter will be made as needed. In the meantime though, 'Takato's' going back home, where he'll be in for quite the surprise. Heheh.

'Till next time then.

-Crazyeight

8


	12. Picking Back Up

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 12/ Picking Back Up

Riley resisted the urge to massage her temples as she sifted through the video footage of the devastating battle with Daemon Super-Ultimate. Hypnos' systems, badly damaged over the course of seventy-two hours, had finally been repaired enough to allow for ease of use. Or at least something approximating it. At any rate, Riley was taking the opportunity to go through the battle footage on her own and going through each frame, fighting it out against unexpected crashes and decreased operating speed that slowed her progress. Yet this left her feeling at ease. The increased responsibilities that Yamaki had pushed on her, on account of his apparent transfer to higher levels of government, left her feeling ill at ease. The change of pace with something that didn't demand her attention be split or a signature on documents was rather nostalgic of earlier times.

Narrowing her eyes, Riley froze a scene and leaned forward. The image showed Daemon during his battle against the Tamers who remained standing at the very end—Suzie, Justimon, and Lilithmon—right before Antylamon ascended to her dark Mega form of Cherubimon. The footage was garbled, thanks in no part to the military using their new _Kamikaze Blaster_ to hit Daemon with a series of high-powered EMP blasts (never mind Daemon's own effect on the city itself), but fortunately Hypnos' shielding had been enough to save at least this much.

_Is that a human arm?_ Riley hit a command on her keyboard and enhanced the image. Protruding from Daemon's body was a pale limb ending with a human hand with five fingers. _Yeah… Yeah, that looks like one._

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. _Well, it took me long enough to get this far,_ she mused. _But it looks like I can finally confirm that this digimon was biomerged. It's too bad that all of our external sensors were fried, so we can't really tell for certain. The Tamers had unique signatures whenever they were biomerged, but we can't cross reference here. I wonder if there are any other way…_

Filing away that thought as something for either one of the Monster Makers or for Amaya Abe to look into, she moved forward with the footage. She didn't bother with the audio, as it had been completely destroyed by the battle.

The footage continued to play forward, giving out every now and then, but resolving out of static to show another explosion or a blast of fire. Finally, after a few more minutes of confused footage and explosions, the video gave out completely, dissolving into static.

Riley pressed her hand against her forehead and sighed.

_I guess this is as far as we're going to get with this._

"Knock, knock."

Raising an eyebrow, Riley turned around to see Tally standing in the doorway, heavy bags under her eyes.

"Hey, you look tired," she told the other woman. Tally smiled half-heartedly.

"Over-overtime does _not_ have its perks," Tally replied, entering the room and sitting down heavily in an empty chair. It was a sign of her exhaustion—or perhaps a sign of their friendship—that she didn't bother asking for permission to take a seat. Riley couldn't blame her.

"Sorry," was all she could say. She had been the one who had ordered everyone to stick around. _It's what Yamaki would have done,_ she told herself.

Tally waved her off. "I'll just take it in interest out of my vacation time," she replied. "Kuroda can help me out with that." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly for a moment. "Word came back from Dolphin and Daisy about our mysterious 'Atsuo'. They can start scanning soon."

"Does that mean I can stop looking at these tapes?" Riley asked sarcastically, leaning her head into her hands.

"What does Yamaki say?"

Riley pressed her lips together. She hadn't told Tally—or anyone else for that matter—about the change of command.

"I think this is going to make me lose my mind," Riley said, subtly changing the topic. "These files are so badly damaged. The only thing that I was able to determine so far is that there seems to be a person's arm sticking out of Daemon's body at one point during the fight." Riley rewound the video to the point that she mentioned and showed it to Tally. "Which fits into what we got from Ryo and Miki. And since Atsuo was there when the fight was over…"

"Sure seems too good to be coincidence."

"Sure does." Riley leaned back in her chair. "I think we should do two things about this. Increase security around Atsuo, and increase his dosage. I want to make sure that he stays knocked out until we can be sure that he's not a threat."

"What about his parents?"

Riley groaned. Her exhaustion riddled mind had nearly forgotten about them.

"My sources have told me that they've filed a missing person's report." She sighed. "I don't know whether or not I should tell them anything when we don't even _know_ anything."

"He's no longer biomerged, right? The Tamers killed Daemon." Tally closed her eyes again. "Or rather our trigger-happy military did after nearly killing the Tamers' partners…"

"After what happened with Noriko, Yamaki doesn't want us taking any chances." She sighed again and glanced at the video. "I suppose I could inform them that he was found at the battle sight and we're looking him over to make sure that he's all right on account of our having medical facilities dedicated to dealing with anything digital. But…I don't know." Riley brushed aside her crimson hair. "I think my brain also got fried from all this."

Tally nodded in sympathy. "Maybe, but…don't you think that the longer this gets dragged out, the worse it'll be? Holding a Japanese citizen in detention and not informing anyone…"

"I know!" Riley said sharply, and Tally flinched from the outburst. Leaning forward onto the table in front of her, Riley buried her face in her hands. "Sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have done that."

Tally offered her friend an understanding smile. "Yeah, but I know you're as wound up as everyone else is."

"Yamaki's being transferred and I'm being set up to take his place."

Tally blinked at this sudden admission. "Uh…huh?"

Riley ground her teeth together, already regretting telling her friend this. "I just found out about this yesterday, during cleanup operations. Apparently it's been planned for a while now."

"Uh…" Tally blinked again, and her smile became a bit of a quirky one. "Well…at least this explains why Yamaki's been keeping you out of the Control Room lately."

Despite herself, Riley barked a laugh and pushed away from the table. She felt strangely lucid all of a sudden.

_I really am tired, aren't I?_

"You know, if it weren't for everything that's going on, I'd order that everyone take the next two…no, _three_ weeks off and book a flight towards Okinawa. Or wherever there's a place with a lot of beach and few people. And no computers."

"I don't think the Monster Makers would like that, seeing as how they breathe technology," giggled Tally. "But I could search for a few places like that in case you'd like to try that anyway."

"Mmm…maybe when things settle down. There's still so much to do right now. Which reminds me, I need to see if the Tamers' new cell phones have come in. I filed the paperwork and sent it out last night but…"

"It's only ten in the morning. I don't think they're going to come in yet."

Riley felt as though her spirit had just been mercilessly crushed, and her shoulders sagged. "You know," she began, "I wonder how Yamaki was able to do this job without snapping. I mean, he did once, but still…"

"Riley? When was the last time you got even a wink of sleep?"

Riley stared off into space for a moment before replying. "Forty-four hours ago I think." She closed her eyes, and a small amount of pain beat behind her skull. "Feels longer though…"

"Maybe you should take a couple hours off in one of the break rooms. Get some shuteye."

"Can't." Riley pointed to a thermos of coffee that had been sitting off to her side, just out of sight. "I've been surviving off of that since late last night. I couldn't rest if I wanted to." She smiled at her friend. "Thanks though. I'll keep it in mind when I finally start to wind down. Or the world does. Whichever happens first."

Tally looked at her worriedly. "Riley…"

"We'd better get back to work," interrupted Riley, turning off the television and grabbing her thermos. "Do you know if the situation with the government has changed or anything?"

"Uh…it looks like the city is still under military lockdown," Tally replied tentatively. "But that's because of all the damage to the city. Parliament is supposed to meet today. Yamaki is leaving to meet with them."

"Well, that's just…great." Riley stood up and adjusted her uniform. "Hopefully the Tamers are having an easier day than we are."

Riley swallowed hard, trying to keep her nerves from fraying any further than they already were.

_Considering the problems that they're having with their digivices right now, we can only hope that they'll have an easy day._

**…**

Guilmon landed flat on his back with a heavy _woof _as gravity brought him crashing down from out of the air. In front of him, Crusadermon stood elegantly in a combat pose before relaxing.

"Again," she said, straightening out her stance.

From off to the side, Takato winced. "Um…I don't know about this…"

"You said you wanted to access the Sephirot, didn't you?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Even though such a thing is not possible unless you are in the service of Yggdrasil…"

Takato rubbed the back of his head. "Well…yeah," he admitted. Crusadermon nodded.

"And yet you still wish to try and access it all the same."

Takato pressed his lips together into one thin line. "Yeah. But only because we were able to use it once when we weren't in his service. We should be able to use it again with enough practice. We still have the data…uh…" He glanced down at the recovering Guilmon as he flopped over. "…right? Boy?"

"Ooogh…" moaned Guilmon, making cracking noises as he flexed his neck.

_That's not what I wanted to hear…_

"Very well then," said Crusadermon, adopting another combat stance. "In that case, we will continue this 'exercise'." She wagged her armored fingers at Guilmon. "Again."

_Oh man…_

From off to one side, the other Tamers, Miki, Kazu, Kenta, Ayaka, Rika, Henry, and their assorted watched the situation unfold. These so-called 'practice sessions' had started shortly after Crusadermon had literally hauled Guilmon down to the park, intent on working something out on how to improve their combat effectiveness against the increasingly powerful opponents that they were encountering, particularly after the discovery that most of the Tamers' digivices, save for Kazu and Miki, weren't working properly. With necessity being the mother of invention, or in Kazu's choice of words, "desperation", the Tamers were trying whatever they could think of in the event of a bio-emergence. The current trend involved Takato and Guilmon activating the Sephirot code that they had acquired three years ago, which would provide them with a large amount of power.

There was however a problem with that idea. Crusadermon also had the code, but neither of them had been able to access it for years, and, wouldn't, if the former Royal Knight was right. As such, she was intent on subjecting Guilmon to regular beatings as part of their 'training' until they either gave up or something happened.

_Knowing Takato, _thought Henry as he half sorted through his deck of cards and watched the match at the same time, _this could take a while._

Henry winced as Guilmon yelped in pain. If anything else, it was going to be far from easy for the pair.

"This is nuts," observed Kazu for what had to be the hundredth time. "Chumley isn't going to get any better like this. Guilmon's not strong enough to take on Crusadermon. She's a Mega!"

"Sure is fun to watch though," noted Terriermon from his spot on top of Henry's head.

"I've got to go with Kazu on this one," Rika replied. "Digimon can't train like humans and get better. After a certain point they can't get any stronger. Level is still everything in the end."

Henry grimaced._ I hate to say it, but they're right. We learned that the hard way during our battles against the Devas._ Henry thought back to a particular battle in the city concerning the sheep and oxen Devas. Actually, scratch that; nearly _every_ Deva they encountered, save for one or two, had been unbeatable unless they were on the same level. No amount of modify cards had changed a thing to their advantage.

_Until we digivolved to Ultimate, half the time we couldn't even call them fights, so much as they were simply slaughter._ Henry ran a hand through his hair. _But I guess there is some kind of logic in Crusadermon's thinking._

Whatever that logic was, it was clearly lost on Guilmon and Takato as the former again crashed to the ground, this time having been subject to a particularly impressive flip in the air that nearly split his head open. Takato winced and glanced down at the digivice at his side. Just as before, static shown on the screen whenever he tried to activate it. "Man, this would be so much easier if we could biomerge or use modify cards…"

"There's no use complaining about something that you are unable to do," said Crusadermon. "At least this training will help you be prepared for such incidents in the future. At any rate, the Sephirot can only be accessed when you want something bad enough. A hopeless battle is the best way to do so."

"You're kinda going easy on him, aren't you?" chimed in Terriermon. Beneath her helm, Crusadermon raised an eyebrow.

"Hmmm…you do have a point. Perhaps I should be even harder." Her yellow sash blades swayed to and fro like cobra heads as she contemplated the idea. "The problem is how to do so without deleting Guilmon or making him unable to fight. Decisions, decisions…"

"This is starting to take a pretty creepy direction," said Kazu, grimacing. Getting to his feet, the boy stretched. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but as fun as it is watching Chumley get his butt kicked, we all could use something to do. Takato, why don't you tag me and Guardromon in? Our digivice works right now."

Takato's eyes flickered over to Crusadermon, who pulled a dazed Guilmon off the ground. "Um…maybe that would be a good idea…"

"Do you think an enemy would allow you that kind of luxury?" scoffed Crusadermon. Kazu simply smirked and summoned a blue card. Sparks flew as he slid it through the card reader, and Guardromon's body warped and changed as lines of code enclosed around him.

**"Guardromon, Matrix digivolve toooo…Andromon!"**

Takato pulled back as the now lithe and shining android surged forward and slammed into Crusadermon hard, the Royal Knight barely having enough time to raise her sash blades in defense. Quite surprisingly, she was driven back, but it was only a matter of time before that would change.

_After all, Kazu can't biomerge anymore,_ thought Takato. He glanced down at Guilmon, who had been tossed to the side following Andromon's charge. "Hey boy. Are you up for giving Kazu a hand?"

As if in response to his question, the crimson dinosaur rose to his feet and charged the two combatants, his pupils dilating.

"Got to hand it to them, they never know when to quit," said Henry with a small smile.

"This changes nothing," said Rika, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "Until all of our digivices are back on again, we're in trouble."

"We've figured that out," replied Ayaka. "But what else can we do? We're the first response to the scene."

"She's right, Rika," supplied Renamon from her place up in a tree. "However, we are in a far better position than we were three years ago."

"Two Megas, a Champion, an Ultimate, and a bunch of Rookies. None of us except for Kazu can use cards, and his partner can only go up to Ultimate. And no offense," Rika glanced over at where Miki sat meaningfully, "but we don't exactly have the best fighters here."

Miki scowled at the redheaded girl. "What? Are you saying that I'm useless?"

Rika sighed and shook her head. "Look, all I'm saying is that…"

"I can _fight!"_ Miki snapped.

"Not very well," quipped her partner, who was resting on the ground beside her.

"Beanie!"

"Hey, can we remember that we're all supposed to be on the same side here?" asked Henry.

"But I'm not wrong though," said Rika. Miki grated her teeth together and got to her feet.

"I don't have to put up with this," she growled before storming away. "Let's go, Dracmon!"

"Ah geez…" Dracmon got up with an exasperated shake of his head and followed his partner away from the group of Tamers. As he left, he cast a look over his shoulder before falling into place behind Miki.

Ayaka turned to glare at Rika. "Nice job."

"Look," began Rika. "I was just…"

**"Kahuna Waves! Puh!"**

The two girls were suddenly interrupted as a wave of blue hearts fell between them, and Rika fell back a bit, startled. MarineAngemon flew between them, making a number of excited, but worried noises before finally focusing fully on Ayaka, looking at her with his large, child-like eyes. The coppery-haired girl's heart melted a little at his expression and she reached out to cup him in her hands.

"Ayaka…" began Kenta as he pushed his glasses up onto his face and stepped forward. "Um…how about we see if we can help Takato and Kazu? Maybe we can brainstorm or something on how to defeat a Mega."

Ayaka nodded. Before stepping away, she turned a glare back on Rika and held it for a moment, letting it go after she was sure that their fellow Tamer read her unhappiness with her attitude.

"Terrific," Rika muttered as the two made their way over to Takato.

"She is right though," said Henry, getting up now. "That was a little out of line."

"I know," Rika admitted. "It's just…" her hand drifted over to her digivice, its screen showing nothing more than static. "…you know."

"Yeah," nodded Henry. "We're in a tight spot, even if the military is able to help us. But my dad and the rest of Hypnos is working on a way to fix our digivices."

"They're having a hard enough time trying to fix themselves." Rika closed her eyes and groaned mentally. "Maybe I should go and apologize to Miki or something."

"You know, you could offer to teach her martial arts. It is useful against digimon that are our size."

"And aren't capable of blowing holes in mountains," chipped in Terriermon, still watching Takato and Kazu's match as it unfolded with the predictable result of Crusadermon slamming Andromon into the dirt.

"And whatever happened to momentai?" asked Henry.

"Nothing," giggled Terriermon. "We'll wing it and work things out like we always do. It hasn't stopped Rika and Takato from getting together, so I don't see how it's going to stop us now."

Rika narrowed her eyes at the little dog-bunny dangerously.

"I have an urge to hurt something now," she said carefully.

"Well, there's Takato," Terriermon said, extending an ear towards the Tamers direction. "You can't hurt me. You might need me in a fight."

Rika glowered at the rabbit dog before she looked away. "Yeah. Teaching Miki would be a good idea, but I don't think I'm the right person to do it. You have more experience, and so does Chou sensei. Not to mention that he has more patience."

"Rika…"

"How's Noriko doing?"

Henry sighed mentally, but allowed his friend to change the subject. If there was one thing he had learned over the years of friendship with the fiery-tempered girl, it was that it was sometimes best to leave her with a thought and go with the flow when she wanted it to.

"She's fine. She recovered this morning. She's a little shaky from what I saw, but she should be up and about by this afternoon. Suzie on the other hand…" Henry shook his head. "She's been pretty quiet about things." He paused. "Itsuya is going to be seeing her today to make sure she's all right."

"Hmmm…" Rika furrowed her brow, but said nothing further.

**…**

"That stupid…idiotic…annoying…"

Dracmon followed his partner with his hands folded behind his head, a mildly concerned look on his face that belied how he felt on the inside.

"You might as well let it all out," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "No one's following you."

Miki stopped in her tracks, nearly causing her diminutive partner to bump into her.

"Dracmon? Have I been a good Tamer for you?"

Dracmon hesitated before answering.

"Meh." He shrugged his shoulders. "You already know that I've never been too big on the whole 'taming' business to begin with. And I don't like that you call me 'Beanie' at every chance you get." He paused, taking in the way Miki's shoulders looked—tense and raised ever-so-slightly—before continuing. "But you treat me with respect like DinoRexmon used to back in the day." Beneath his mask, his eyes fell a little as he remembered his former superior in the X-Antibody digimon army. "That's been good enough for me most of the time. Although you could use a few more tips when it comes to fighting. Isn't that what you were talking to Ryo about in the digital world, when you asked him to teach you how to play the game? Even though you can't use cards worth beans with your digivice."

Miki scrunched her face up irritably and her hand touched her digivice. "So it's like Rika said. I'm useless except when it comes to biomerging. I haven't even digivolved you to any of your other forms. I've always just stuck with your Mega form."

"Hey, c'mon Miki. It's not like you haven't tried. Well…okay. You haven't, but Lilithmon has always been powerful enough on its own, and let's face it, the more human face is a heckuva lot better for the civvies. Do you think they'd appreciate it seeing me skating around on blades and having dozens of swords sticking out of my sleeves, like I do when I was in my Ultimate form? I hate Lilithmon's boobs, but the 'fan sites' that I've seen online…"

"Fan sites?" Miki raised an eyebrow.

"Eh." Dracmon thumbed a claw through the gap between two of his teeth. "It's nothing that I'm interested in, but maybe you might seeing as how you like our Mega form and everything. I just don't get why people are so interested in photo-shopping our Mega form so that it's naked."

Miki started forward again, her face blooming beat-red. _That is the _last_ thing I wanted to know! I'm not even going to ask what he was doing even looking for that stuff!_

"Hey! Miki! Slow down!" Dracmon called, chasing after her. "I've got little legs here! C'mon!"

Miki ignored her tiny partner and continued to speed forward. As she did so, quite against her will, she found herself imagining Dracmon's Mega form just as he described it.

_What would Ryo think if he saw that?_ her mind whispered, and all at once her body flushed. Catching the sudden second increase of red in her cheeks, Dracmon raised an eyebrow.

"You okay, Miki?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped suddenly, increasing her pace. Dracmon broke into a run to keep up with her.

"Mikiii! I said slow down already! Sheesh! What's going on in your head?"

It would be a while before Miki slowed down enough for her partner.

**…**

A/N: It has been…a really, really long time since I last updated this fic. March, if I remember correctly. Half a year. I've been feeling the itch to come back to this story, but I had to do a lot of backtracking throughout book four and this book to remember every major detail and plot that I had lined up, which took up something like six pages of notes (abridged notes too, and I had to add in the timeline as well, having lost the original notebook that I was working with). Hopefully I've got everything straightened out, and hopefully this, as well as Reset, will see some faster updates in the near future.

Until next chapter.

-Crazyeight


	13. The Gateway to Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 13/ The Gateway to Home

BanchouLeomon shielded his eyes as he tracked the dark form of LadyDevimon as she flew over the broken remains that once was the fortress-capital of Zhuqiaomon, ruler of the Southern Quadrant. It had been rubble for years and not a single piece of it had been moved in all that time. The era of Sovereigns was over, and the remains of their castles served as the ultimate testament to that.

_Odd that none of the other powers have ventured here to claim whatever of their power is left,_ thought BanchouLeomon. _Perhaps it's because there is nothing left to take?_

BanchouLeomon frowned. _No. That's not the case. The gateway that leads to the human world remains here. That alone should be drawing them here. Perhaps…_

He sniffed the air, testing it for any other scents. He came up with nothing however. Nothing recent that is. For any others, this would have been enough to put them at ease. For BanchouLeomon however, it only made him wary.

_There's a Kiwimon, the Sovereigns, the DoruGreymon that they fought…_ He sniffed the air again, trying to differentiate all the smells, _but they're all old scents. Badly eroded. I have to focus just to be able to pick them up. Not a single one of them is recent. Yggdrasil and Huanglongmon leave no scents themselves, and the latter was only just reawakened. This isn't natural._

For lack of any other explanation however, BanchouLeomon could only remain alert. He had no reason to suspect that anything was amiss. After all, there were places in the realm that he hailed from that had, following the genocide by Kurata and his monstrous creations, the Gizumon, remained disturbingly silent and void of life. As though there was some unspoken agreement amongst the wildlife to leave such spaces empty, either as a sign of respect for the dead.

Or, perhaps worse from BanchouLeomon's perspective, out of fear that such an act could happen there again.

"Um…BanchouLeomon?"

The lion warrior turned to face Takato, who had a questioning look on his face.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering…um…this gateway…how long has it been here, exactly? I mean, well, it's just that when my friends and I were here before, we had to rely on our friends back home to get us out of here. Zhuqiaomon didn't do anything, and neither did any of the other Sovereigns. Well, except for Azulongmon, who stuck us in a cloud and got us a bit further away from the fighting."

BanchouLeomon turned away, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Perhaps it's something that was built recently," he mused. "For a time when humans and digimon could work together peacefully."

Takato's face seemed to brighten. "Really?

"I do not know, Takato. This is my first time being in this realm. I have never spoken to the Sovereigns before either, and Yggdrasil—Norn—does not discuss them."

"But of course," crowed a voice behind the pair, "you would say something positive about the monster."

BanchouLeomon and Takato both turned to Kurata, both now frowning slightly.

"You never have anything good to say about digimon, do you?" Takato asked.

Instinctively, Kurata's hand went up to push up his glasses, and he smirked.

"I don't care," he said, sniffing a little and rubbing his nose. "Not anymore really. But I'm curious. How do you know that this 'Sovereign' wasn't planning to invade your home?"

"He and my friends came to understand each other better," Takato replied stubbornly. Inside though, he couldn't deny the possibility of Kurata's words. Zhuqiaomon had, after all, invaded the human world once, and he never stopped believing that the union of humans and digimon was anything at all something great and wonderful; only that he would 'respect' the wishes of the partner digimon who elected to be so.

Kurata still smirked at him.

"So," he began, changing the subject. "Are we just going to continue standing here? How much longer is this going to take?"

"Until LadyDevimon can find an entrance for us," BanchouLeomon replied, returning his attention to the sky. "It looks as though she's about to come back."

"Hm," was all Kurata had to say on the matter. Tilting his head, Takato looked down at the sleeping form of Belphemon Sleep Mode, chained and locked, lying on the ground a short ways off. Seeing this, Kurata chuckled.

"Don't let his looks fool you," Kurata said. "Little Belphemon here may appear weak and helpless to you, but if he were to ever wake up…you wouldn't think he was so friendly after all."

Takato turned away, still frowning.

"I've already seen a digimon's bad side, Kurata," he rebutted. "Just like I've seen a person's." An image of Megidramon flashed across his mind. "Sometimes people make them that way too. And we're the ones who made them in the first place."

"Enough talk, the both of you," interrupted BanchouLeomon as LadyDevimon approached. "It's almost time."

Crimson hair billowed behind her as she touched down. Tilting her head to one side, she placed one hand on her hip, thrusting it cockeyed as she gazed at Takato first before focusing on BanchouLeomon.

"There _is_ an entrance," she said simply. "The area is unstable though."

"We don't need to be long," BanchouLeomon said with a nod. "How unstable is the area? You are the only one of us who can fly."

"Not anything that an Ultimate or a Mega should be worried about." LadyDevimon cast another glance at Takato. "But our soft meatlings here are a different story." She looked back at BanchouLeomon and her eyes narrowed, becoming a bit somber. "I'd say that our, or more precisely _your_ presence would be enough to upset the foundations."

"I see." BanchouLeomon frowned and sucked on the blade of grass between his teeth thoughtfully as he eyed the ruins. "Yggdrasil's Sephirot code cannot be transferred to any one of you however, so this presents a bit of a problem. Hmmm…" Closing his eyes, the lion-warrior drew his sword and raised it in front of him. At once, a pattern of flames sprang forth along the blade, racing along its length like fire until it glowed white hot. The weapon throbbed with power and the space around it began to warp before a blast of white light shot out at the rubble and struck it. There was no explosion however, or anything else that the group could see, save that the light continued to increase in intensity. BanchouLeomon's frown deepened and a bead of sweat stood out on his brow. After what felt like an eternity, the light snapped back to the sword and died down, leaving the warrior-Mega breathing a bit more heavily than before.

"Um…" began Takato. "What did you do?"

"I am not entirely certain," said BanchouLeomon. "The Sephirot code lends many kinds of uses—destruction and power boosting being the most obvious and fairly easy to access. Anything else however is…difficult. But using what Yggdrasil told me, I sent my desire into the code and into the ruins. Hopefully the remains should be more stable."

_"Should be?"_ scoffed LadyDevimon. "Is that the best you can tell us?"

"It is all I can give you. I was never intended to be given this kind of power, and it won't remain with me either—only as long as I am assisting you. As soon as my mission is done, it will vanish."

"That's…not good," noted Takato. BanchouLeomon merely smiled.

"From your perspective, it is. But I make my own way in the digital world. I have no need for Yggdrasil's gifts unless she feels I need it."

LadyDevimon folded her arms beneath her breasts, looking rather unhappy about this development. "Very well then," she said coolly. "Shall we go?"

BanchouLeomon nodded. "Le…" he stopped and looked over his shoulder, scanning their surroundings, a dark, suspicious look on his face.

"Are you all right, BanchouLeomon?" asked Takato worriedly.

The lion warrior did not pause right away, and instead turned his gaze up toward the ruins of Zhuqiaomon's fortress. His eyes fell upon a small pebble as it rolled off a broken foundation and onto the ground. BanchouLeomon tightened his grip on his sword and nodded to himself.

"As I thought," he said finally. "We are not alone."

"Why wouldn't we be?" asked Kurata sarcastically. As if to add credibility to his words, a violent sneeze tore free from his nose. Sniffing loudly, he wiped his nose and steadied himself. "My allergies have been doing nothing but complaining ever since we got here."

"That's because _we_ are here," grated LadyDevimon, stepping over to Takato. "Now grab your…Demon Lord and let's get started. I want to be away from this place as soon as possible."

BanchouLeomon cast another glance around him. He could not sense anything except his companions. Even Huanglongmon's power had disappeared off his proverbial 'radar'. Was there something else out there? If he couldn't sense Huanglongmon, what else was here that he couldn't sense?

"We should hurry," growled BanchouLeomon in agreement with LadyDevimon. _Even if I am wrong, it is far better to be safe than sorry._

A thought came to him just then, and he tightened his grip around his sword's hilt, squashing the thought brutally.

_This is not the time for experiments,_ he thought. _I must see them to their destination, and get them out of here. Whatever happens after that…_

BanchouLeomon let the thought end as he took a step forward.

**…**

Once more Takato found himself in LadyDevimon's embrace as they flew together through the air, with BanchouLeomon jumping from place to place behind them and carrying Kurata and Belphemon Sleep Mode (in spite of the former's objections). As they neared their destination, Takato couldn't help but feel just a little bit excited; eager that he was going home. But at the same time…he was afraid.

_Home…_ The word carried a wistfulness to it, packed with a bundle of nerves. _I haven't seen them in so long, and they all think that I'm dead. I mean, they have to, right? I know I'm dead…well, I 'died' after all. And from what Huanglongmon showed me, they've gone on with their lives. _Closing his eyes, he tried to recall everything that he had seen in his mind when Huanglongmon gave him the visions. They didn't come readily however, save for Suzie.

_I wonder if…I should even meet everyone…let them know that I'm okay. Guilmon would probably be glad. Oh, who am I kidding? He'd be…_

His fingers twisted around the sleeves of his shirt, and they squirmed beneath his touch. He swallowed as a lump appeared in his throat.

_…he'd be thrilled._

Takato's vision blurred suddenly and he wiped at one eye. In spite of his best efforts, coupled with the wind that blew around his face from their flight, tears shed themselves and struck LadyDevimon's elbow, just beneath the chain that was wrapped around it. For an instant, Takato felt his heart freeze in panic, half expecting the Ultimate to turn toward him, either to wonder what was going on or mock him for his sentimentality. As the seconds ticked by however, with no change on her part, he decided to take a risk and snuck a peak at her pale, masked face as best as he could. He saw that she was simply looking forward, as though nothing had happened. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, he looked away and waited for them to touch down.

**…**

"It's over here," LadyDevimon said, stepping over a giant slab of broken rock, with Takato right behind her—her orders in case anything went wrong and she had to rescue him quickly—followed by Kurata next and BanchouLeomon last. The demonic Ultimate pointed across a shattered pathway to a series of fallen rocks that half-revealed what looked to be the entrance they were searching for. Takato quickly recognized it as the top spire to Zhuqiaomon's fortress, only now it was several floors closer to the ground. Its size though was still nothing short of amazing.

LadyDevimon turned to BanchouLeomon, who toyed with the blade of grass in his mouth before nodding.

"Yes," he confirmed. "It's in there. I can sense it." He looked at LadyDevimon and pointed to Kurata. "Watch him."

Testing the ground beneath him, the lion-warrior leapt into the air and landed directly in front of the entrance's mouth. Grabbing hold of the stonework, he freed up the entrance. He frowned as he inspected the entrance. It was rather small compared to him, easily six, maybe seven feet tall.

_I would have to stoop to walk through here,_ he thought._ Same for LadyDevimon. This looks as though it were made for humans in mind. _He scratched his chin musingly. _It's too bad we won't ever know what this was being used for…or if it was being used for anything at all._

"Well?" demanded LadyDevimon heatedly as she and the others approached—Kurata being pulled along by her chain, wrapped securely around his neck while Takato looked on in concern. "Is it safe for them to enter?"

Reaching out, BanchouLeomon pressed against the ceiling of the entrance. "It seems stable enough for what we need to do."

LadyDevimon grated her fangs together, while next to her Takato nodded.

"All right," the boy said, stepping forward. "Let's g…ah!" Takato jumped as LadyDevimon laid a harsh, clawed hand on one shoulder, jerking him backward.

"Kurata first," she snarled. _"Then_ the cub. And then us."

"My," smirked Kurata. "You're all heart, aren't you?"

Snarling under her breath, LadyDevimon yanked her chain and tossed him and Belphemon Sleep Mode to the ground in front of BanchouLeomon roughly. Her chain retreated almost as soon as he landed, snaking back around her arm like a living serpent. Kurata massaged his throat, wincing painfully, but he still smirked nonetheless.

"Careful," he said, adjusting his grip on Belphemon. "You don't want to wake up the Demon Lord."

LadyDevimon narrowed her eyes dangerously, but said nothing.

BanchouLeomon approached Kurata and helped him to his feet. Kurata tried to brush him off, but the Mega's superior strength held firm, and the former scientist quickly gave up. As soon as he was up, everyone made their way to the doorway and entered it. They were plunged into darkness almost immediately, and for an instant, just an instant, Takato felt his heart rise into his throat instinctively. However he pushed the fear down, and pushed himself forward before LadyDevimon could get the chance to encourage him otherwise. He did however sneak a look over his shoulders to find LadyDevimon's glowing red eyes following closely behind him. He smiled, and the beating of his heart settled a bit.

_Most people wouldn't be comforted by a sight like that,_ he thought._ I guess that says something about how used to her I am. Or maybe just being used to what I've seen in the Dark Area. I wonder if that's why I feel afraid of the dark all of a sudden. Am I having one of those weird, unconscious or subconscious things where I think I'm back in the Dark Area again?_ He found himself chuckling quietly to himself. _Man. I'm more messed up than I thought._

"What's so funny Takato?" asked LadyDevimon, her voice suddenly close behind him. He felt her breath tickle the back of his neck, and the hair on his body prickled and rose in response.

"Nothing," Takato said, chuckling again, this time louder, giving him cause to wonder about why he felt even _more_ glad for the reaction when most people would be jumping out of their skin right now. "You wouldn't understand."

He felt her breath retreat, but just a bit, and she remained close by in the suffocating darkness. From the scrape of her heels on the stone floor, he could tell that she was wired, ready to leap into action at any moment. This too he found comforting. It almost reminded him of the days when he was partnered with Guilmon.

Almost.

_I wonder how he's doing right now? I hope he's not causing Mom and Dad any trouble._

As he continued to make his way down the shrouded hall, he wondered again if his partner had returned home, and if he had, would his parents allow him to stay around knowing that every day he would be a constant reminder of what they lost. It would be something on Guilmon's mind at the very least. He would be quite aware of it even without having to be with their friends for extra emphasis. If not, would Jeri have taken him in?

_That's all if he made it back,_ he thought, creeping along blindly. _Oh man…please let everyone still be okay back home. Please let everything still be all right._

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, light broke before them, and the group stepped into a massive room. It almost seemed to 'glow', if that was the proper word for it, and indeed there was much more light in the place, courtesy of cracks and holes that pocketed the walls and ceiling. There was a hollowed feel about it that left Takato feeling as though he were in a place of reverence. His mouth fell open, amazed at the cathedral-sized depth that the room had.

"There," BanchouLeomon said, pointing at two, towering steel doors standing at the far edge of the room. "That is where we need to be."

"Ah!" Takato's eyes shot wide open at the sight of the doors. "Those…I don't _believe it!"_

All eyes were now on Takato, but the teen was too preoccupied to even notice. Spying something else standing before the doors, Takato immediately took off, jumping over the piles of rubble, ignoring LadyDevimon's shout of anger. Seething with anger from this, the demoness flew after him and grabbed him by his shirt, hauling him up into the air so that they were face to face.

"Would you at least _think_ before you go charging into a place like that?" she demanded hotly. "This is part of a Sovereign's Fortress and it is in _ruins!"_

"But…" Takato furtively glanced over his shoulder. "That door…"

"I will take you there," LadyDevimon cut in. "But if you do not show more caution in the future, there will be…_words_ to be had between us." The chain on her arm shifted ever so slightly, the links clinking together as they crawled along her forearm. "And I do not think you would like what I have to say."

Takato eyed the chains for a moment before looking back over his shoulder at the doors. LadyDevimon growled wordlessly under her breath and flew forward, aiming toward some kind of small pillar standing in front of the door. Behind them, BanchouLeomon again took hold of Kurata and followed from behind, both of them silent. Within short order, they were all gathered around the pillar while Takato analyzed it, his eyes wide with stunned belief.

"I still don't believe it…" he breathed.

"And just why is that?" asked LadyDevimon, glancing at the pillar. It was so small that it didn't even qualify as such. Larger than a rod, certainly, but it was plainly made for something else. It had a number of rectangles on its top, coupled with a number of stars on them. LadyDevimon snorted. It was imply a gateway device.

_Hardly anything to be excited over…_

"This was in the TV show," Takato said finally, causing Kurata to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The TV show where I'm from," Takato repeated. "This was in it. The main characters—Digidestined—had to sneak into a Myotismon's castle as it was breaking apart, and use this and the doors to get home. Uh…" He looked around frantically. "Although they had some cards that had to be set in the right order for it to work."

LadyDevimon furrowed her brow, but said nothing on the matter. Instead she looked around them, trying to spy the cards that Takato was talking about. She shifted her heel, and felt something thin move beneath her. Bending down, she quickly retrieved one card, embossed with the image of an Agumon, and presented it to Takato.

"Is this one of them?" she asked. Takato bobbed his head up and down exuberantly.

"Yeah. There are more of them." He reached forth and took hold of the card, inspecting it carefully. His expression became doubtful as he noticed that it was damaged—dented from the imprint of LadyDevimon's heel and bent from what could only have been numerous rock impacts. "Suddenly I don't think this is going to work…"

"As long as the data they have isn't wholly undamaged, they will work," affirmed BanchouLeomon. "And as long as you believe they will work, then they will. Let's see if we can find the rest."

"Couldn't you use your fancy program to open the door instead?" asked Kurata, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh?" LadyDevimon raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to help us now?"

"Better than staying in this world," Kurata remarked, one hand instinctively going back up to his face to push up glasses that weren't there anymore. He scowled at his hand for its unceasing habit. "You said that they had to be set in the right order…"

"Yeah." Takato's voice became even less certain. "I don't know how that applies to my home though. It was all in a TV show, and if this is here, then maybe…"

His voice drifted off, letting the unspoken meaning hang there. LadyDevimon glanced at the doors, understanding what he was getting at probably better than the teen even knew.

_The door…_ she thought, noting the chips rock that surrounded its edges, a stark contrast to the smooth walls that surrounded it. _It looks as though it were moved here from someplace else._

BanchouLeomon chewed on his grass stem even more forcefully now. A sense of dread had just now fallen over him, as though he were being watched. It had come the moment that they had stepped into the room.

He remembered the falling stone from outside, and the unnatural quiet that existed throughout this level of the digital world, the Realm of the Sovereigns. He thought of the code that existed inside his blade, only good as long as his charge was in this world.

He looked at the damaged card in Takato's hand.

_Do we have the time for this?_

Gripping his sword, BanchouLeomon concentrated on it once more, and as before white patterns of flame spread across the blade. The light narrowed, focusing tightly around the edge and he glanced at Takato.

"Let us pray that this works," he said, and with that the flames leapt forth, surrounding first Takato and then spreading into the card, and then wrapping around the pillar. The light flared and white sparks of light rose up from around the room before flying forward and slamming onto the surface of the pillar where the starred rectangles stood. The light surrounding Takato, the card, and the pillar died out, and Takato stood there, stupefied at seeing the cards suddenly in front of him.

"It worked," breathed BanchouLeomon, lowering his sword and wiping an arm across his brow. A broad smile drew across Takato's face as he placed one hand on the pillar.

_It did. I'm really, finally, going to go home…_

He blinked as he realized something odd. _The cards…they aren't in the right order. They're…_ He frowned, scanning each and every one of them and frantically trying to remember how they went in the TV show. _I think they're in the reverse…_

Before he could say anything, the sound of the doors opening, accompanied by the bright light of a swirling vortex emanating from it. Nodding her head, LadyDevimon swept an arm around Takato and began to pull him towards the door.

"That's our cue, boys. Let's get this over with before…"

At that moment, the ground behind them screamed in violent protest as something large erupted from its surface.

**…**

A/N: Aaand that's another cliffhanger for you guys. I had a lot of fun writing this piece, though I felt that some characters, namely Kurata were underused and didn't really contribute anything to this chapter beyond simply being an annoyance. Not that it could be helped though. He's in a position where he can't do anything, doesn't want to be hanging around with the people he's trucking with, and the place that they're going happens to be better (in his eyes) than where he is now.

This is a Takato chapter overall anyway, mainly because he's finally coming to realize that he is going to go home, and after so long away from it he can't help but wonder what's been going on in his absence (what he perceives to be his absence anyway). The snippet he got from Huanglongmon doesn't tell him anything good, but at the same time it provides a glimpse that things just may have been okay. With Takato's imagination though, the good and the worst will come out and play, regardless of what he hopes for. And he's going to be in for one hell of a surprise when he gets back.

Next chapter will finish off Takato's 'return' home, reveal the identity of their attacker, and begin the preparation to move into book six (title pending at the moment). Until then.

-Crazyeight


	14. The Last Knight

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 14/ The Last Knight

Since the early days of being a Tamer, Takato was aware that digimon could sense other digimon. With this came the ability to assess threat level. Generally, the more powerful a digimon was, the greater the impact its presence had. Most memorably was the time when he and his friends, Rika and Henry when they entered this very same fortress to battle it out with Zhuqiaomon, the Sovereign of the Southern Quadrant. The Mega's sheer power and force of presence was enough to set all of their partners on edge, so much so that Renamon described their reaction as being a "terrible, overpowering anger that would crush them if they let their guard down".

Considering that had been the first—and last—time he saw the normally calm and collected Renamon's fur rise in response to a threat, that was certainly saying quite a lot.

This time around, things were obviously different.

For one, there had been no warning. Oh, before—back in his first adventure—they knew there was a Sovereign in the castle, but they didn't feel his power until they entered the castle, and the battle didn't begin until some minutes after they were made fully aware. And another…

LadyDevimon collapsed to her knees, her clawed hands clutching at the sides of her head and her mouth practically tearing itself apart as a howl ripped free from her lips. So distraught…so _overwhelmed_ by the sheer force of power that was beating on the air and causing Takato's own living clothing to squirm and shriek inside his mind, that LadyDevimon did not even react when the shattered stone that had exploded into the air started to rain down on them. Even BanchouLeomon was frozen in place by the horrific shock that his senses were receiving.

At least, that was what Takato _hoped_ it was. He didn't want to so much as entertain the thought of him being afraid.

Whatever the case was, Takato didn't give it time to fully form in his mind. Seeing the rain of stone begin to surge towards them, Takato dove into LadyDevimon, who was the most badly affected by the force before them, and the two of them tumbled out of the way, just in time for a rock to slam into the same spot where they had just stood, punching a crater into the floor and shattering the foundation of the pillar-key to the Gateway, causing its top to topple to the ground and roll over to where Takato and LadyDevimon now lay.

"LadyDevimo…" the teen began, pushing off of the demonic digimon, only to be cut off as a blast of dust-filled wind struck him and threw him away from her. Crying out, Takato grabbed at the ground, trying to stop himself. His hands scraped against the jagged ground, and blood dotted it, but ultimately the force of the hurricane was too much, and he found himself torn away. He tumbled through the air for only two seconds before slamming into the wall by the gate. Takato felt the wind rush from his lungs in one mad rush as something snapped in his side, sending white wildfire rushing through his body. As he slumped to the floor, his eyes bulged and his mouth worked airlessly to express the pain and surprise that rocked him.

Unfortunately for them, their attacker wasn't at all as handicapped as a cold, growling voice bellowed upon the walls of the castle.

"Is there no end to the foolishness of the shadow? To think that we would allow a Gateway to be accessed so easily by ones such as yourselves…"

The sound of the voice alone was enough to snap BanchouLeomon out of his paralysis, and immediately he began to raise his sword. Whatever it was that attacked them however, it wasn't giving them time to recuperate. A massive, red-scaled claw shot free from the dust cloud and slammed into the lion-warrior, throwing him backward and pinning him against the wall. Small spider webs of cracks splintered along the stone, and the castle groaned in protest.

"There will be none of that, rebel," the voice intoned. Wincing, Takato struggled to regain his feet, only to collapse as yet another gust of wind brushed over him. A massive, dragon-shaped head loomed forth from the cloud of dust and broad wings spread outward, yet, oddly, their sheer size was such that they could not possibly fit into the room. Had Takato been not so overawed by the creature's mass, he would have noticed that they cut off at the halfway point upon meeting the walls that would imprison them and limit their use, fading in and out of stability, as if they were breaking apart…or being prevented from coming together by some outside source.

As it was, he noticed none of those things, and instead struggled to speak. It was difficult though. Every time he took a breath, fire flared in his ribcage, and he clutched at his side uselessly.

"We…we mean no harm," Takato breathed. "My name is…Takato, and these are my friends." _Using the word 'friends' loosely,_ he thought in his mind before continuing. "We're trying to get to the real world…"

"You shall not pass," cut across the dragon-like creature in an impassive tone. The dust was settling steadily, and now Takato could see that the creature's body appeared incomplete, and not just with its wings either. Its lower body appeared to fade down into nothing.

"But," Takato protested, "the digital and real worlds are in danger! We have to go to the other side to…"

"It is pointless to argue, young one," interrupted the dragon once again, its breath blasting over Takato and causing his clothing and hair to flutter. "It is forbidden for creatures of the dark to pass through that Gateway. Once we failed in this duty, but no more." The dragon narrowed its eyes and tilted its head to one side. "Interesting…I didn't think that a human could become so entwined with the Dark Area. It seems as though the rumors concerning an _Emperor_ from years before are true after all."

Takato pushed himself to his feet, gritting his teeth together all the while until he was steady.

"Please…I know that…um…we don't…uh…exactly look like good guys here, but we need to do this. Um…" Takato's mind worked furiously, trying to get around this sudden and unexpected problem. "Oh man…" he whispered to himself. "That dragon guy…um…Huanglongmon said that we would be okay…uh…I think."

The dragon raised another arm, this one solidifying, and reached forward. There was the sound of rubble being pushed aside as the creature spoke again.

"The Royal Knights pay no obeisance to the Fifth Sovereign. Our loyalty is to Yggdrasil, and Yggdrasil only."

Takato's eyes bulged in their sockets. "You're a _Royal Knight?"_ he exclaimed, flabbergasted. _Not again,_ was his next thought. "But…you don't look like…"

"The form does not matter," growled the dragon as it rose into the air, carrying two unconscious figures, Kurata and Belphemon Sleep Mode, the latter of whom was hanging by his chains, still sleeping. "Consider your lives forfeit. You have brought a Demon Lord into this place. You claim to be protecting the two worlds? You would not be so quick to bring a beast such as this there if you were truly on the side of the Eternal Light." He snorted as he looked at Kurata. "There is an unusual number of humans coming to the Dark Area… No matter. I shall do my duty…"

The dragon's claws began to tighten around Kurata and Belphemon, but before he could go any further, there was a sudden flash of light and a bestial roar tore through the air. The dragon's head snapped around just in time to see BanchouLeomon pushing against the claw that held him prisoner, slowly and inexorably freeing himself from his clawed prison.

"Impudent cub," the dragon snarled, thrusting his arm forward suddenly. The wall behind BanchouLeomon exploded backwards and the lion was propelled outward, rolling down the shattered remains of the castle. The dragon snorted derisively. "To think that you could stand against Examon of the Royal Knights. Now, about these two…"

There was a sudden animalistic scream as LadyDevimon now snapped out of her paralysis. Her wings scythed outward as she launched herself at the dragon, one arm twisting into a vicious, black spike. The dragon merely sniffed and raised one massive arm in her direction. Air warped in front of it and a gun-like lance materialized out of thin air.

**"Avalon's Gate,"** Examon boomed as gold energy burned at the lance's tip.

"NO!"

With a shout that tore at his ribs, Takato propelled himself forward. A miasma of dark energy bloated around his body and began to bulge outward. Gray armor tinged with blue highlights formed immediately, and gold irises quickly replaced his crimson ones. A blue cape swept behind him as a ashen, unadorned shield materialized around his left arm. Takato, now in his ChaosGallantmon form, surged through the air and smashed LadyDevimon out of the path of the oncoming blast while simultaneously sweeping his shield in front of him. Beneath his helm, ChaosGallantmon grunted in pain as the blast struck his shield full force, rocketing him backwards until he slammed into the wall. The stonework crumpled like wet paper beneath the blow, and ChaosGallantmon tumbled outward into open air. The dark knight grabbed frantically around him as he fell, grabbing hold of the bottom edge of the hole, bringing him to a harsh stop. Within his battered armor, Takato breathed a sigh of relief as he halted…only to be interrupted as his shield disintegrated and fell to the ground below.

_Awww nuts…_ the teen groaned, trying to lift his now broken shield into the air. His arm shivered and began to blur, and the remnants of his shield broke apart into shards of data.

_Nuts again._ ChaosGallantmon winced. _That makes this harder…_

As ChaosGallantmon prepared to hoist himself back up into the room, the remainder of the walls exploded outward as massive, dragon wings tipped with white spines spread outward. As he stretched, free from his confines, Examon's body began to solidify and take form. He stood tall, large, but dwarfed by his wings, which seemed to stretch for _miles_. A tail, the longest Takato had ever seen, whipped behind the beast, slipping behind the wings and lashing out into visibility again. To Takato it made him think of Megidramon, but any resemblance ended there. As he clung to the remains of the tower, it shook violently as Examon appeared over him, lance in hand. Above in the sky, clouds began to swirl in a chaotic fashion, beating in time with the bestial tail that whipped about beneath them.

_That's not good,_ Takato thought as lightning cracked and crashed between the clouds. That feeling of power beating upon the air had intensified suddenly to extraordinary levels, and a disturbing red glow emerged from Examon's eyes.

"You _dare_ mock my fellow comrade, Gallantmon with that form?" Examon bellowed, and the shockwave of his wrath caused the wall that ChaosGallantmon clung upon to shatter completely. With a surprised shout, the dark knight fell and crashed to the ground. White sparks shot across his vision, but Takato managed to hang onto consciousness and roll over to his side, summoning his black lance, Balmung into existence.

"It…it wasn't like I was trying to," he wheezed. Pain was now erupting in a forest fire along the arm that had bore his shield. Examon's blast must have jarred it enough to knock the feeling out of it temporarily. _I hope that there's no permanent damage…_ "I used to biomerge with my partner into a Gallantmon. Then I died…"

Examon did not seem to hear him. Or if he did, he didn't care. With a furious shout of _Pendragon's Glory,_ the dragon shot into the air, and immediately a thunderstorm of energy bolts stabbed out of the sky. ChaosGallantmon didn't even think—he didn't have the time to—as he began to dodge. In spite of his best efforts though, against the furious storm there was only so much that he could do. His cape was immediately torn to shreds, and his shoulder guards were torn off. More blasts struck the backs of his legs, causing him to buckle and collapse to the ground, while another struck him on the corner of his helm, causing the inside of his head to ring as white exploded inside. In the next moment, Takato found himself blinking blearily on the ground, back to his normal human form, and lying amidst the shattered remains of his armor. His clothing was tattered, and everything above his shorts was destroyed.

The earth again shook as Examon's clawed feet crashed down in front of him. Takato heard the sizzle of electricity building up. With an effort, he looked up at Examon, who was still holding onto the unconscious Kurata and Belphemon.

"You still live," Examon growled. "Impressive, but this is the end. You and your allies will be destroyed."

"N-No…" Takato wheezed, struggling to get back up. The broken remnants of his armor began to shift and squirm in response to the teen's indomitable will. One fragment, a cracked shoulder guard, dissolved into shards of data and flowed over to Takato, sliding up his back and forming along his arm. More fragments broke down and began to coalesce around the boy, attempting to reform. As they did so, Huanglongmon's visions flashed across his mind. "My friends back in the real world… They're in danger! I can't let them down!"

Smoke curled from Examon's nostrils as he raised his lance above the boy. "You won't have a choice. This battle ends now."

**"Lion King Slash!"  
**A scythe-like blast of energy tore through the air and struck the back of Examon before he could launch his attack. Making an agitated growl, the dragon craned his head to find the blasts owner hurtling through the air, curved blade at the ready with swirling patterns of white fire etched into its surface.

"I thought I sensed the Sephirot. So it is _you_ who is the controller. Is there no limit to your mockery of Lord Yggdrasil's creations?"

BanchouLeomon narrowed his eyes as he drew closer, and hoisted the blade over his head. BanchouLeomon gritted his fangs together as he swept his blade down with a powerful slash, sending another stream of energy surging toward Examon. The great dragon pulled his wings in front of him, and a hurricane wall of wind blasted the attack, shattering it to pieces and throwing BanchouLeomon to the ground. With a snarl, Examon turned his full attention on the lion warrior, ignoring Takato behind him as the teen's armor collapsed and fell back to the ground again with a clatter.

"You are no threat to me, BanchouLeomon," Examon snorted. "Even with your 'enhancement' you won't be able to harm me, much less touch me. I did not do battle with the DexDoruGreymon that invaded this land just to be destroyed by a usurper such as you or your comrades."

BanchouLeomon struggled to his feet and brought his blade back in front of him. "You fought against your master's own creations?" he asked.

Examon snarled as he raised his lance. Red energy crackled at its tip as he took aim.

**"Avalon's Gate!" **he shouted before charging forward.

_"BanchouLeomon!"_ cried out Takato, rising to his feet and ignoring his injuries. The scene of BanchouLeomon dug up painful memories. All at once, he was back to that horrible day when Beelzemon killed and loaded the proud warrior. Was this battle going to end the same way, with even _worse_ results?

Takato never got a chance to find out as a cold, gray hand clamped down around his mouth and he disappeared in a flurry of darkness and bats.

**…**

LadyDevimon couldn't decide whether to simply murder Takato for smashing into her the way he did, or merely be angry with him. What she could decide on though was just this: simple survival.

"We need to get out of here," she said, dumping Takato unceremoniously onto the ground. The teen spun towards her, eyes wide and frantic.

"But the others…"

"There is nothing we can do for them," LadyDevimon growled, grabbing hold of Takato by the shoulder forcefully. "That Royal Knight is too powerful. You don't have enough strength even at your best to defeat him, and BanchouLeomon…" LadyDevimon hissed. She didn't quite care for the lion, but if there was any hope to be had, of which she didn't believe in at all, it was all down on him.

"No," Takato said, as if reading the demoness' mind. "We can't just leave them here!"

"What choice do you think we have? BanchouLeomon can't hold that Royal Knight off, and if we die here, our mission is over! Do you want your friends to suffer from whatever it is that…being wants over there? He's after something, and whatever it is, it's far larger than the life of one measly lion, a mass murderer, and a Demon Lord." LadyDevimon's eyes flashed angrily. A _Demon Lord!_ She had no care for their breed, and even less for the human that it was shackled to.

_This human's desire to help everyone is absolutely infuriating! There is only one way out of this, but I need him to get to work and not risk himself for the others. Takato Matsuki…one day you will be the death of me._

Reaching into her belt, LadyDevimon produced three cards and presented them to the brown-haired boy. "I found these after you…_rescued_ me." She put as much derisiveness into those words as possible. She pointed ahead of her towards the two, tall, steel doors that had somehow miraculously escaped the devastation, and not only that, still stood. "We can still use the Gateway. The other cards may have survived along with these somewhere around here…"

"LadyDevimon," protested Takato. "We _don't_ have time! We just…"

All of a sudden BanchouLeomon came sailing down next to them, crashing to the floor and rolling to a halt. Takato spun around, about to call out to the lion warrior, but came up short as he saw a hole in the Mega's stomach. Data seeped out of the wound, and his fingers hung limply around his swords handle.

"No…" whispered Takato, seeing that BanchouLeomon's eyes were closed.

A shadow fell over the trio, and both Takato and LadyDevimon turned to find Examon towering over them, lance in hand, its tip crackling with untold energies. Lightning crackled behind him as he took aim.

_Huanglongmon's not coming,_ Takato thought, despair suddenly falling heavily onto his shoulders. _And I can't do anything to save us. Just like before… I…I couldn't save Guilmon. I couldn't save Leomon. I…couldn't save anyone. I won't be able to save anyone…_

All at once, all the fears that he had just barely been keeping in check began to pour forth from the hidden depths of his heart. All the fears that he would never see his friends again, never see his family or his home, or even find out if Guilmon had survived. None of that would happen now. He would only spiral down forever in a never ending sea of darkness, servant and slave to oblivion where one day he would be used against those that he loved and cherished. As his eyes took on a dull, lifeless look, a dark aura began to coil around him and his fear deepened. As the milliseconds ticked by, it grew darker.

LadyDevimon saw it, and her crimson eyes widened in shock.

_"No!"_ she shouted, barreling into him at the same instant that Examon thrust his lance forward, narrowly missing them by mere inches. Examon turned to track their course, snorting in annoyance at having once again lost his prey.

"You will not escape," he began as he began to withdraw his lance, only to furrow his brow as it suddenly became stuck on something. A bright light suddenly flared in front of him, and the dragon turned to find BanchouLeomon holding onto the tip of his lance, orange fire dancing around his body in a furious display. Chuckling to himself, the lion took hold of his sword again, and white flames flared back to life along its blade.

"They will," BanchouLeomon stated firmly. "I promise you that."

All at once the white patterns of fire raced up from BanchouLeomon's sword and into his body, where it burst free like a dying sun. Examon raised the hand holding Kurata and Belphemon in front of him to ward off the bright light.

It was, without a doubt, the worst thing he could have done.

A dark aura had surrounded the pair, just as it did with Takato, but unlike Takato this shadow twisted and churned like a pile of writhing snakes, and it only deepened with each passing second, making it impossible to tell for certain whether there were two beings or just one in his hand. As Examon watched, entranced by the display, the darkness changed suddenly and a pair of green eyes, wide and child-like in appearance at first, snapped open, staring at Belphemon, boring into his eyes with their gaze.

A second later the darkness bloated outward and a mighty claw with chains affixed to their owner's arm bore outward and slashed across Examon's face, sending streams of data and digital blood flying through the air.

**…**

LadyDevimon touched down in front of the gateway and slammed Takato harshly against their surface. The boy grunted, and the darkness surrounding him flickered and dimmed.

"Ow! LadyDevimo…!"

"No more, Takato!" She grated, grabbing hold of his face and pulling it close to hers so that they were now looking each other red eye to red eye. _"No_ _more!_ Is _this_ how you fought your battles when you were alive? The _real_ way you fought?" She drew her lips up into a harsh, twisted snarl, feeling a sense of betrayal lash through her digital heart. "To think that I gave you the benefit of the doubt, _human._ Weak and miserable and pathetic after all, just like I always thought you were…"

"What are you talking abo…?"

A single, crimson nail suddenly hovering a centimeter from his chest quickly silenced him. Looking down at it, Takato found himself gasping at the miasma that flexed and pulsed along his body.

"Wha…? What is this…?" Takato's memory sparked. "Hey! This is the same thing as from the TV show…the first season, when Matt was separated from the others…"

Unseen to him, LadyDevimon's mouth relaxed and began to curve upward ever so slightly.

_He almost sounds like his old self again,_ she thought, the sense of betrayal becoming replaced by a sense of relief. As she watched, Takato nodded to himself and closed his eyes, taking slow, deliberately deep breaths until the darkness fell back and disappeared. Takato opened his eyes and met LadyDevimon's steady, blood-red ones.

"I almost lost it there, didn't I?" he asked, and for a wonder LadyDevimon nodded in agreement without making a scathing comment on his lapse.

"We need to escape this place," she repeated to him in a strangely softer voice as she retracted her claw. Takato nodded.

_"All_ of us though. We all have to get out of here…"

"Takato."

"No, LadyDevimon!" Takato cut in. His red eyes flashed as he kept them fixed on the demoness'. "We either all get out of here, or no one does. I can't abandon the others."

A loud explosion followed by a loud roar filled the air, and both Virus and human turned to see the massive form of Belphemon grappling with Examon. LadyDevimon narrowed her eyes.

"How ready are you up to that?" she asked. "Examon defeated you once already, and he wasn't even trying."

"And he shall defeat you again."

Both turned to find BanchouLeomon staggering towards them, using his sword as a crutch.

"Banchou…" began Takato, pulling away from LadyDevimon and running towards the lion warrior as he collapsed to the ground. "Are you all right? Wait, what am I saying, you've got a big hole in your chest. Why wouldn't you be?" Takato pressed his lips together painfully as he took in the Mega's condition. He looked as bad as Leomon did when Beelzemon put a hole in him all those years ago. The fact that BanchouLeomon's own injury hadn't continued to spread despite the loss of data he was suffering from was nothing short of miraculous.

"You two must go," BanchouLeomon said. "If you stay here, you'll be killed."

"We can't just leave you here!" exclaimed Takato furiously. "If…if we just work together we can just…"

"Belphemon is out of control," interrupted BanchouLeomon. "In his current state, he will not distinguish friend from foe." A pause. "If he ever distinguished them in the first place. But right now that is the only thing holding Examon in check. You two have your mission, and you will complete it." He glanced at the cards LadyDevimon was holding and he nodded to himself. "So…it did work."

LadyDevimon and Takato both raised eyebrows at this.

"Uh…what do you…?"

"Before we were attacked, I had begun replicating the data of the card we found, using the Sephirot Code. The Sephirot, I think, recognized it immediately and began to adjust the data for the differences in the other cards. They may be linked." He smiled wearily. "I was…interrupted, as you know. But this time…I won't be."

As another explosion and a roar erupted behind them, BanchouLeomon reached out for the cards in LadyDevimon's hand, and the familiar pattern of flames spread outward, and within moments seven more cards joined the three LadyDevimon held.

"Wow…" breathed Takato in amazement. "But," he turned back to BanchouLeomon, "they need to be organized in a certain way to get to the real world. We don't even know what that is. We could wind up anywhere." Takato shivered. "Even…even a place where digimon and humans…uh…switch skins?"

LadyDevimon lifted the cards in her hands, analyzing them. Turning away from the others, she made her way to the broken pillar that contained the slots for the cards, she began to place them on. Takato watched her.

"LadyDevimon?" he asked.

"Not now, Takato," she told him firmly, placing the last of the cards down. "And if you value our…_friendship_ at all, you will never ask about this again."

With the last card placed, a bright light flared from behind the gateway, and the doors inexorably began to creek open. Takato's eyes widened as they pulled backward, revealing a vast expanse of blue light behind them.

"That's it!" Takato exclaimed, pumping his fists into the air. "We can go now! We…" Takato froze as the doors suddenly stopped moving. "They're…the rubble!" Takato's eyes shot wide open in horrified realization. "The rubble's keeping them from opening all the way." Panic set in again. _The opening isn't wide enough for everyone to get through! Examon won't be able to follow, but neither will BanchouLeomon or Belphemon! Not in his current form!_

"Go, Takato," urged BanchouLeomon.

"But…but…"

BanchouLeomon took hold of Takato by the shoulder and gave him a hard look.

_I am uncertain as to what to make of this boy,_ he thought. _He is not like Marcus, but in the short time I have known him, there is determination in him. Weak from all his years in the darkness, but if allowed to grow again…_

Belphemon's bellow caused his ears to twitch. Dropping his sword, BanchouLeomon took hold with his other hand and threw him to LadyDevimon, who grabbed hold of him. Without even waiting, the demoness turned and bolted for the opening between the doors, shooting at it like a bullet. She folded her wings as close to her body as she could, making herself as narrow as possible, all the while trying to keep a struggling Takato still—a surprisingly difficult task in spite of her superior strength.

"Keep still," she said in a low voice as they sped towards freedom.

"But BanchouLeomon…"

"I know." And with that, as she raised a hand and pressed it to the back of Takato's head, running her fingers through his hair and pulling his face tightly against her bare shoulder, they disappeared into the eternity of blue behind the gateway.

And the doors slammed shut behind them with a violent crash.

**…**

BanchouLeomon sucked on the blade of grass between his fangs as he knelt down and lifted his sword back up. A grin spread across his face as the shadow of a massive figure fell over him and he got into a loose combat stance. He felt rather woozy, but thanks to the Sephirot Code working on him he could feel his injury closing rapidly. Hefting his sword, he gave it a practice swing and he looked up towards the owner of the shadow that was glaring down at him.

"Let's do this," he grunted, raising one hand to the blade of grass and twisting it between his fangs just a split second before the shadow's owner fell on him with a roar.

**…**

A/N: This chapter was a bit of a bear to get through, and I'm still not one hundred percent happy with it. Perhaps my biggest worry is that it loses some of the tension from the previous chapter, and really should have been continued from it rather than leaving it off on a cliffhanger. The second issue was trying to describe Examon. His profile seems to indicate that he is, for lack of a better word, enormous. So much so that technology could only recently reveal him. I tried to show bits of this where he allows bits and pieces of his body to appear or be intangible, but I wound up not pulling it off as well as I wanted to, and I wound up rewriting it over and over and arguably making it a bit worse each time, so in the end I decided to fall back on an earlier version to keep the story flowing. I might come back and edit this chapter again to get a better idea on Examon's size and power, particularly in relation to his battle with Belphemon, but for now this is where I want to be so I can move on.

Until next chapter.

-Crazyeight

9


	15. The Awakening of a Shadow

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Return of Shadows

Chapter: 15/ The Awakening of a Shadow

_The Renamon looked at the gaping hole in the side of the guest quarters, a bit of an annoyed expression crossing her face, before she turned to the human that she had been bid to wait upon. Darkness coiled around the human in a serpentine manner, centered around his fists, and an eerie red glow burned behind his eyes._

"_If I may be permitted to speak…" she began, trying to ignore the hard, chaotic pulsing of her digital core that lied about her outward appearance. "I am certain that we can find a way to end this senseless fight without either of us getting hurt."_

_ The human turned towards her, a harsh, almost animalistic expression on his face. Power beat upon her in waves, and the vulpine digimon unconsciously took a step backward. She forced herself to continue to appear outwardly calm. This human…something about him told her that if she so much as showed even an ounce of weakness, however brief, he would set upon her with all the viciousness that the barbaric digimon of the Southern Quadrant showed each other._

_ "Tell me where Agumon is," the human growled. The shadows curled and flared, as if pulsing from some power that lay hidden within him._

Not good,_ she thought to herself. He kept asking that question, and he did not react well whenever she told him the truth. She was gradually losing control of the situation. She extended her senses outward, picking up a number of her fellow sisters-in-arms rapidly approaching her position. If she could just stall for time…_

_ "I don't know where he is," she resumed, "but I am certain that one of my sisters knows where he is. If I may be allowed to…"_

_ "No!" the human snarled, and with that he charged forward, the darkness surrounding him billowing outward like a lion leaping upon its prey. Renamon's body coiled, preparing to dodge…_

_**"Diamond Storm!"**_

_Before the human—Marcus—could get any closer, a flurry of glimmering, jagged shards of crystal came raining down toward him. Stopping dead in his tracks, he flung one arm around him, sending a stream of shadow searing outward, shattering the digimon attacks before they could even get close to him. Renamon's heart soared with relief as she saw a group of her sisters appear behind Marcus, their eyes cold and set in a single, grim, determined line._

_ "I believe that we have made our point," said the lead sister of the group. "Stand down."_

_ "Not until I know where Agumon is!" Marcus snarled. The shadows swirled and built up with ever increasing intensity around his fists. The Renamon narrowed her eyes in time with her rescuers. She had an idea that this would not end well._

_ She was proven right when Marcus turned and stormed towards them, shadow-fire flashing around him as he thrust his fist towards the other kitsune._

I can't let this go any further!_ The Renamon thought, leaping after her human charge. Her clawed hands reached out and wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his sides._

_ That was when things went very, _very _wrong._

_ As though it had a mind of its own, the darkness snaked out and sent tendrils crawling across her arm guards. It was subtle at first. Violet turned ashen at their edges, appearing as though they were being burned by the shadow-fire, but half a second later it raced forward into and along her body. Golden fur withered beneath the onslaught, blackening with every touch. But what was even worse was the bleak, stabbing cold that she felt worming its way throughout every fiber of her being, all the way to her digital core. A horrified scream let loose upon the air, but only Renamon would never be aware that the scream was her own. All awareness in fact tried to flee from her then and there, crawling and fighting its way out of her mind and _skin_. _

_ The cold, merciless darkness would have none of it, and in the end a low laughter echoed in the depths of her mind as she fell backwards, dragged not only to the wooden floor below, but also in the waters that had now sprung up beneath her, eagerly waiting with mute, chilling glee…_

**…**

Crimson eyes opened up to a rather cozy-looking ceiling, and blinked twice, as though unsure that it was actually there. After satisfying itself, the red eye closed again and its owner sat up with a heavy groan, tossing aside white blankets.

_My head hurts…_ the owner of the eyes thought as a clawed, white-furred hand touched black fur, massaging temples that pulsed and drummed painfully. _Where am I?_ she wondered, opening her eyes again and glancing off to the side where a tall, human-looking woman wearing a golden fox mask and an odd, white uniform and hat. The hat sat off center, and had a red, cross-like symbol on its surface. The owner of the red eyes tilted her head. A memory sparked.

"The medical ward," she whispered to herself. "Nurse Sakuyamon…"

"Oh!" The Nurse Sakuyamon snapped to attention at the sound of her charge speaking and greeted her with a warm smile. "You're awake, Bla—er, Renamon!" Getting up from her seat, she dusted off her uniform and went over to the vixen. "How are you feeling?" she asked, placing a hand on her head. The vulpine closed her eyes, feeling tension suddenly melt away at the touch of the Mega's cool fingers on her fur.

"I am…adequate, Nurse Sakuyamon," she replied after a moment's thought. "What transpired while I was unconscious? Is the human…?"

"The human is fine," Nurse Sakuyamon said, removing her hand. Her other one pointed over at her desk and waggled her fingers. A clipboard flew up into her grasp and she removed a brush from it. Glancing down at the clipboard, she began to make notations. "Silver is currently seeing to him. There's been quite a lot of activity going on since then. The council is considering making a move towards the human world soon."

"I…see." The vulpine blinked and glanced down, feeling a bit disoriented for some reason. It was as though there were something wrong with her vision. It seemed…difficult to see, in spite of the light. She winced. In fact, now that she thought of it, the light hurt her eyes. She looked away so that Nurse Sakuyamon would not have any reason to fuss over her. "Will I be…?" she gasped as she suddenly spied her dark fur and gloves. "Wha…?" she stammered. "What…is this? What _is_ this?"

Nurse Sakuyamon turned back toward her, her lips set into one worried line.

"BlackRenamon, you need to be calm do…"

_BlackRenamon._ That name caused something to snap inside of the now black-furred kitsune.

"What happened to me?" she shouted, her eyes flaring crimson. "What _happened to me!"_

**…**

"Hey boss!" exclaimed Agumon as he snorted down yet another mountain of fried eggs. "You really need to try this stuff out! It's awesome!"

Marcus leaned into one hand, a nonplussed expression on his face as he watched his partner stuff himself full of the seemingly never-ending supply of fried eggs that the Seer Council seemed strangely willing to impart to them.

Agumon swallowed heartily and looked at his 'boss' with a raised eyebrow. "Something wrong, boss?"

Marcus sighed and looked away. "You know, you really shouldn't be eating so much. You'll make yourself sick."

"But boss, they keep giving it to us. Wouldn't it be rude to ignore it?" As if to illustrate his point, he popped in another helping of fried eggs and started swallowed it without so much as making an attempt to chew.

"Says the mon who thought it was a bad idea to stay in the real world and do nothing but eat all the time," Marcus grumbled restlessly. With a heavy sigh, the digital street fighter got to his feet. "Agumon, I think we should get going."

"But boss, you…we still have that digivolving problem. The Sakuyamon said that she was fixing something to help you with that."

"She's been at it for too long, Agumon." With a growl, Marcus pounded one fist into his open palm. In response, energy flared around the fist, but died rapidly. Marcus stared down at his fist, frowning slightly for a moment before turning back to his partner. "We've got a digital world to protect," he continued. "You know just as well as I do that it's not going to sit still for us. We've got to keep doing our duty, just like we promised. And we'll work this problem out while we're at it."

Agumon scrunched his face up uncertainly. "I don't know boss. I can already hear Thomas saying that this isn't a good idea…"

"Thomas would be planning too much. His idea of action is sitting still."

"C'mon boss. You know that's not true. I mean, he and Gaomon took us down as part of their plan so that they could betray Kurata."

"Kurata…" Marcus growled, tightening his hands into fists again. "He's still out there too. He's the reason we can't sit still. I thought that these…Seer Council guys…"

"Ladies," corrected Agumon.

"You know what I mean!" snapped Marcus. "I thought that they'd help us with this and then we'd be out of here, but if they're going to take this long, then we've got to get moving. Every second that Kurata is out there and moving is a second where some digimon is suffering because of him." The red-haired teen's eyes narrowed, and a brief, crimson glow burned behind his golden irises. "These Seer Council digimon are probably helping him…"

"Boss!"

"Uh!" The light left Marcus' eyes suddenly and he pressed his hands against his face. "Nnngh…" he groaned softly before peeling them away. "Sorry. It's just…Kurata's out there. You know just as well as I do what he's capable of. If we don't stop him soon, then any digimon he hurts or destroys will be because of us. It'll be our fault, Agumon." An image of a young boy with dark hair and dressed in a cape and an odd shirt flashed through his mind.

_Keenan…_

"Yeah, I know," replied Agumon. "But what about what happened earlier with that Renamon?"

The image of Marcus' friend from back home was quickly followed by a Renamon writhing on the floor, her fur changing from gold to black. All because she tried to stop him. All because…_ What was it that Urocyomon called it? The Dark Area?_ …the Dark Area had infected him with…something that corrupted his digi-soul, causing all of Agumon's digivolutions to alter and become dark. Causing him to lose control in fights.

_Just like when we first created ShineGreymon Ruin Mode, only it happens all the time now._

The dark-fire pulsated around his fist. For the first time that he could remember, his strength had become a hindrance to his purpose. He could not protect what he destroyed at the same time.

_I know what Agumon's saying…and he's right. But…Kurata is an even greater threat. He doesn't care about what he does. As long as I'm careful about what I do, we should be all right._

_ …right?_

The question hung there in his mind, full of doubt. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he was spared from further dwelling on the matter as a dull thump of an explosion reached his ears from outdoors.

"Boss…?

"I heard it," Marcus said. "Are you ready to fight?"

"Always boss, but…are you?"

Marcus' only response was to dash towards the exit of their room, with his partner following closely behind.

**…**

"Renamon, please…"

"I will _not_ be calm!"

With a howl, BlackRenamon hurled herself through the hole she had made in the wall of the medical ward. As she did so, the Nurse Sakuyamon reached out for her.

"Wait…!"

"Don't touch me!" BlackRenamon shouted before the medical shaman could even come close. Orange shards of energy formed around her as she slashed one arm to the side, sending them streaming towards their target. **"Blazing Embers!"**

Nurse Sakuyamon gave a shout of surprise as she ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the burning blasts as they shot over her head. Some of them caught on strands of her hair however, and each ember flashed from the contact. Nurse Sakuyamon suddenly had a whole new reason to shout as her hair caught fire.

"Ah!" The shaman staggered backward as the blazing strands fell down her back and onto her uniform. Thinking quickly, she forced an air of calm over her mind as she activated one of her attacks to quell the flames.

**"Crystal Sphere!"** she shouted, and at once a number of energy bubbles materialized around the burning strands, snuffing out the fires before they could do any more damage. Relaxing, Nurse Sakuyamon took only a moment to inspect herself and lament over the condition of her hair before turning. "All right," she began. "Let's all just calm down before we have another repeat of…" She halted as she realized that she was suddenly alone in the room.

"She took off," she muttered to herself, grinding her teeth together. "By the Sovereigns…this is going to be a difficult patient."

**…**

BlackRenamon materialized out of a cloud of smoke upon one of the rooftops of the temple grounds, quickly taking in her surroundings. Her mind however was very much a jumbled mess, and her arms shook upon their foundations.

_I attacked our healer,_ she thought, and again repeated it. _I attacked our healer._ Raising one gloved paw, she clasped it over one eye, unable to believe just what had happened…what _was_ happening to her.

_I'm a BlackRenamon. I…I have become a monster._ Lowering her arm, she took a look at her gloves where the yin-yang symbol normally sat. In its place was a pure white circle, staring at her like a dead, sightless eye. It made her want to scream. It made her want to lash out and destroy everything around her. Smoke rose from beneath her claws, but she refused to give into her rage.

Her fellow sisters might be within the building beneath her.

A group of paws materialized on the building around her. Looking up, BlackRenamon saw her fellow sisters, pure golden fur, violet gloves, and blue eyes taking her in, measuring her.

"Sisters," she whispered in a shaky voice.

"BlackRenamon," one of them, a tall one that the dark vulpine knew as Silvia, as named by the human Alice during her stay amongst them. "Nurse Sakuyamon desires that you return to the medical bay to rest. You are…" She narrowed her eyes and looked her over. "…unwell. You need to be treated."

BlackRenamon felt herself shaking all over. Her mind thought of all the stories that she had ever heard about digimon such as what she had become now. The BlackRenamon were seen as something to be feared…a species that had served Apocalymon when he first appeared, and a sign of darkness at every one of their appearances. Wherever they went, evil and destruction could only follow. That meant that there was only one way that Nurse Sakuyamon, or any member of the Seer Council would deal with her. It was the only way that they could all be safe.

Deletion.

_I don't want that,_ she whimpered in her mind, suddenly overcome with fear over the looks that the others were giving her. They were all judging her, she could tell. They were all wondering what kind of threat she would be.

"N-No," BlackRenamon whispered, taking a step backward. "I…I know that I'm not well, but…but…"

"Renamon…" Silvia took a step forward and held out a hand to her. "Please."

"I…" BlackRenamon looked back and forth between the hand and the owner who presented it, uncertainty and doubt building up in her. _No. It's impossible that they would betray me just like that. They are my sisters, and I mean them no harm. I should be able to trust them._

She had just started to reach out towards Silvia's outstretched paw when she sensed movement behind her. Her body suddenly burst into a cloud of dark smoke, and one of her sister Renamon passed through her, arms outstretched in a tackling maneuver and eyes wide with surprise. Her body solidifying, BlackRenamon could only look on as something clicked in her mind.

_She…tried to restrain me. They mean to capture me and put an end to me!_

Orange flecks of fire and ashes played at the edges of her claws as they curled into tight, shaking fists.

_I will not be taken so easily,_ her mind seethed. _I refuse to die just like that!_

Her arms spun around her as a raging whirlwind of fire materialized out of thin air.

**"Blazing Embers!"**

**…**

**"Bada-boom!"**

A ball of flame smacked upon the face of a statue in Shinjuku Park, darkening its surface. In front of it, Impmon glowered at the statue, another ball of fire lit between his thumb and forefinger of his right hand. The diminutive imp scowled at the statue, as though he were daring it to say something.

"You know," he began after a moment of contemplative silence, "most people consider it rude to stare."

The statue continued to look straight ahead in mute response to Impmon. After a moment, Impmon sighed and snuffed out the flame.

"What am I doing?" he wondered aloud. "Talkin' to a statue? I must be goin' crazy."

Kicking at the dirt path, Impmon pretended to ignore the statue and its constant, silent stare. After a moment, a long, unnerving moment, he turned and glared back at the statue.

"So tell me somet'in'," he resumed. "You're supposed to be art, right? So what are you supposed to be?"

Silence again greeted him. Impmon felt a little insulted, though he knew that he shouldn't be. In the digital world, he would have expected the statue to be alive, and definitely ignoring him, but this was not the case here in the real world. In the real world, such things never moved and were always as still as the ground was beneath his feet.

_On most days anyways,_ Impmon reminded himself. "Ba-boom." He turned his head skyward, a pleading look on his face while he shook his gloved fists at the clouds. "This town is too quiet all of a sudden! C'mon! Somebody do somet'in'!"

"Uh…you got the screaming crazies going on or something?" came a voice from off to the side. Whirling about, Impmon saw Dracmon and Miki approaching from down the path, both of them looking at him a bit worriedly. Or rather, Miki was, while leaf-like eye patches on Dracmon's mask didn't really change at all. Impmon scowled.

_I keep swearing dat his mask shows what he's feeling, _he thought. _But every time I do, those eyes of his stop doing stuff. It creeps me out._

"Yeah, sure," Impmon replied sarcastically, folding his arms over his chest. "Dat's me. I'm just goin' plain nuts here because I got not'in' better to do with my time."

"Oh," said Miki, her worry evaporating into something a bit more agitated. Dracmon though, had a bit more to say on the matter.

"Yeah? How about you go visit the team's psychiatrist? He's helping us out now, you know."

"Right, like I need to waste my time on…wait, what's dis now? Team psych-i-trist whatsitcalled?"

"Psychiatrist," Miki said before Dracmon could say anything more. She shot her partner an admonishing look. "A head doctor. Yamaki hired him to make sure that none of us were, I guess, going crazy from fighting digimon all the time." She glanced back at Impmon. "We're pretty young to be doing this stuff, you know."

"Meh." Impmon shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm pretty sure that my noggin doesn't need anyone pokin' around in it."

Dracmon chuckled. "Probably a good idea actually."

"What do you mean, Dracmon?" asked Miki reproachfully. Dracmon chuckled again.

"All I'm saying is that he was helping Suzie and we all saw how well that worked out. She blew up on the battlefield and dark-digivolved Lopmon straight to the Mega level. You wanna tell me that's 'getting results'?"

"Beanie…" began Miki, switching to his oft-maligned nickname and watching him cringe in response. "You know that she only had one session with him, right?"

Not waiting for a response, she turned back to Impmon. "Anyway, Jeri used to see one after she was abducted by that D-Reaper you guys fought." She furrowed her brow. "Although I don't see why you would even need one or anything."

"I don't," Impmon replied, folding his arms behind his head and stomping off. "Never said I did, 'cept when I was being sarcastic. You know what that means, right? I sure hope so 'cause I ain't going to be doing any explaining for the slow kids in the class? You got me? Ba-boom. Anyway, I think I'll smell you losers later. Goodbye!"

With that, Impmon shot himself into the air, disappearing into the tangle of trees while Miki and Dracmon both watched him go.

"He is such a weird little digimon," observed Miki with the air of someone repeating a tired line that had been used countless times before. "Why don't we ever do what Takato told us all those years ago and just ignore him?"

Dracmon, who had no prior knowledge of the events that Miki was referring to, shrugged his shoulders nonetheless. "Because he can digivolve to Mega on his own, kick almost anyone's ass and insult us at the same time?"

"Beanie!" Miki snapped. "Language."

"Oh, pooh. And it's Dracmon, not Beanie!" The tiny masked demon stuck a claw into his fangs and picked at them thoughtfully. "Say, do you think he can still digivolve to Mega? Almost everyone else has problems with it…"

"How about we hope that doesn't happen, okay?" asked Miki. "I've had enough fighting to last me for a while. I mean, we're just starting Golden Week, and so far it's not shaping up the way I want it to."

"Oh? And how's that?"

Miki's frown deepened as she resumed walking, this time at a more hurried pace. "Nothing. C'mon!"

"Hey, where are we going anyway? I don't mind pointless wandering, but I'd like to know if we're going to end up somewhere important sometime in the future. You know, like home?"

Miki paused in her stride for a moment, causing Dracmon to pull to a stop behind her and raise a curious leaf-eye.

"I…" She licked her lips nervously. "I want to see Ryo," she said finally.

"Ehhh? Ryo? Miki…"

"C'mon Dracmon," Miki said, setting off at a rapid pace. Dracmon sighed and rolled his eyes beneath his mask.

_Here comes more walking…_

**…**

Bakumon watched the pair as they strolled down the park path. One eye twitched and looked up at the sky, sighting a moving cloud of mist floating wistfully through the air, following the girl and her partner's course. He furrowed his brow for a moment, his little stumps of feet tapping against each other for a moment before he disappeared in a wisp of smoke after them.

_Trouble time_

**…**

BlackRenamon materialized in an alleyway, breathing heavily. Outside the confines of her temporary safe zone, Renamon and Kyubimon, as well as the odd Taomon, raced along the temple grounds, the Ultimates shouting orders to their lower level cousins while they replied back with affirmatives. Ducking deeper into the alley's shadows, the dark vixen clutched at her upper arm, wincing as her paw scraped along the edge of a shallow cut beneath her fur, signs of her battles against her fellow sisters.

_I'm safe for now,_ she thought, trying desperately to rest and gather some strength for the monumental task that she had before her. _But I can't escape, not with so many of my kin on the lookout for me. _She flexed her hands, taking stock of her situation. _The gate-wardens are too powerful for me to handle, and their senses are too well developed._ She frowned._ Even though I've…changed, and actually become stronger in this new form._

BlackRenamon clenched her eyes shut, and a lone tear forced itself free from her eyelids.

_I've hurt my sisters. I've hurt Silvia. I know that I had to in order to live, but…but why do I have to fight my sisters to do it?_ BlackRenamon bit her tongue and resisted the urge to punch the ground. _This is happening all because of that…that corrupted human. Everything he touches will end up like me as long as he's around. He'll destroy my sisters and everything that our elders fought so hard to protect._

_ If only he weren't here…_

Her red eyes snapped open at he thought, and all at once her mind took focus. She stood up.

_Yes. If only he weren't here… I have to protect my sisters from further harm. Even if I die. They don't see the danger of it. They only want to help him. In the end, that will be their undoing. They need to be protected from themselves. And I…I am the one to do it._

BlackRenamon narrowed her eyes, and a moment later she vanished in a puff of smoke, teleporting to her target.

**...**

A/N: Marcus seemed like a good place to return to in this story, as I haven't advanced his subplot much at all since he wound up at the Seer Council. BlackRenamon wakes up to kick things off, and not for the better as she's not a very happy camper right now. Impmon makes a small return as well since he was last seen duking it out with the military, though he'll start to get a bit more focus as the chapters develop, especially in regards to a certain psychiatrist. Heheh.

The Nurse Sakuyamon is…a bit of an oddity, and I must admit to being a bit inspired by a piece of fanart showcasing an Angewomon in a similar outfit (minus the hat), and I figured that the Seer Council, after their last battle that incurred heavy casualties, would need one of their own who specialized more heavily in healing magic. It's mostly an experiment for fun purposes and won't really impact the story in any significant fashion.

Until next time.

-Crazyeight

8


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